Star chef and Guinness World Record champion, Hilda Effiong Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, has revealed the reason behind her decision to cook 200 bags of rice instead of the 250 initially planned during her latest record attempt in Lagos.
The cook, who shot to fame in 2023 after completing the world’s longest cook-a-thon, launched this fresh attempt at the Eko Hotel and Suites. Thousands of food lovers, celebrities, and dignitaries gathered to witness what many described as a cultural festival rather than a mere cooking event.
The atmosphere was electrifying, with live music, dancing, and appearances from top figures such as Nollywood actress Funke Akindele, dance professional Kaffy, and Bamidele Abiodun, wife of the Ogun State Governor.
Explaining her decision, Baci told reporters that she had to cut down the rice quantity due to the limitations of the weighing scale used to measure the final product.
She said:
“If you notice when we started we weighed the pot and we need to weigh every single thing that goes into the pot when we’re done.
“The goal was that by the time I was done making 5,000 kilogrammes I was hoping to achieve about 17,000 to 18,000 kilogrammes. Right now, if I include the weight of the pot, that’s about 20,000.
“The average crane and the measuring device can only weigh 20,000 kilogrammes.
“It’s safer for me to go below 20,000 kilogrammes so that my scale can carry it all at the same time and basically that is why I had to cut down on the quantity and I only cut it down by a thousand kilogrammes.”
Although she made the adjustment, the chef confirmed that the 200 bags of rice cooked still translated into 4,000 kilogrammes, which is sufficient to feed an estimated 20,000 people.
“This 4,000 kilogrammes of rice is 200 bags of rice and it will still feed 20,000 people so we’re still up there,” she assured.
Baci described the feat as the most ambitious of her career, noting that it required nearly a year of planning, with the fabrication of the massive pot alone taking two months.
“Honestly, Gino and I figuring this whole thing out was hectic. Figuring out how to fabricate the pots, it took Mr. Ayo two months to figure out and fabricate the pots. Then it took us about nine months to plan this event and it took us almost nine hours to make the entire meal,” she stated.
While admitting the stress was intense, she expressed joy at the outcome:
“It was challenging but very exciting at the same time. We’re not done because we need to distribute the food and make sure that everybody that has come here eats to their satisfaction. So we’re still on it but so far I’m very happy, you know, with where we are and what we’ve been able to achieve today.”
Interestingly, she pointed out that the idea was not originally conceived as a Guinness World Record attempt but as a way to bring Nigerians together through food.
“When I came up with this idea, I did not think about it as a world record, quite frankly,” she explained.
“I mean, have you looked around? There’s a lot of you. Some of you came with your cooler, so we need to make sure everybody’s fed. We’re feeding the nation.”
The Guinness World Record body acknowledged her attempt in a social media post on X (formerly Twitter):
“What’s cookin’? Best of luck to @hildabacicooks who’s attempting a new record for the largest serving of Nigerian style jollof rice today.”
This recognition came just two years after Baci’s 2023 cook-a-thon that propelled her to global fame and inspired a new generation of Nigerian chefs.
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