Nigerian chef breaks world record for cooking the largest jollof rice dish

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LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — A Nigerian chef has broken the world record for cooking the largest ever pot of jollof rice.

Guinness World Records confirmed the achievement on Monday for the largest jollof rice serving by celebrity chef Hilda Baci.

Baci, who briefly held the world record for the longest cooking marathon in 2023, last Friday prepared a pot of 8,780 kilograms of jollof rice, a popular West African delicacy made from rice cooked in a pepper sauce. The food is a staple across the region.

“It took nine hours of fire, passion, and teamwork,” the chef said after the day-long cooking and serving, which involved a moment of high drama when the huge retrofitted pot collapsed under a crane during weighing.

Guinness World Records said on its official X account that Baci had surpassed the required 4,700 kilograms of rice.

The mountain of rice was distributed to hundreds of onlookers who had come to cheer the chef at upscale Victoria Island.

Baci's marathon cooking challenge in 2023, which spanned 93 hours and 11 minutes, was surpassed in the record books a year later by Irish chef Alan Fisher.

But it sparked off numerous of attempts at Guinness World Records recognition as many young West Africans tapped into the desire for global acclaim, including challenges for the longest book reading, the longest skipping rope session and the longest speech, among others.