How We Helped Hilda Baci Set a Guinness World Record

Chef Gbolabo Adebakin, also known as Captain Gibbs, shared the hard work that went into helping Nigerian chef Hilda Baci break the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon.

Adebakin, who runs The Nigeria Food Summit, explained that the team spent about a week preparing for this record attempt. The actual cooking marathon lasted about four days.

He shared these details in an interview with NairametricsTV called “The Chef Who Wants to Standardise Nigeria’s Food Industry.” The interview was published last Wednesday and gained a lot of attention on Thursday.

According to him, the preparation included making menus, getting ingredients, managing logistics, taking care of staff, and following Guinness World Records rules.

“The first one, for example, a lot of us didn’t sleep. And I know, you know, on the Guinness World Record, it was, I think it was four days, because that’s like a hundred and something hours. It was one week for us, for the people behind the scenes.

“It was one week because we have to prep before the cooking starts,” Adebakin explained.

He noted that the preparation was huge since the team had to plan for thousands of meals while making sure the food met the record’s requirements.

“If you are doing like an event for maybe a hundred people, you can do your prep in a day. We’re doing an event for four days. Now imagine how much prep we need for that,” he added.

Adebakin had planned to rest at a hotel nearby during the event but ended up staying for the entire cooking marathon after realizing the work involved.

“I thought that I was going to be able to sleep. So I got like a hotel close by. But the first day that I went to go and change, maybe just refresh and stuff. Secondly, I surrendered. I stayed there throughout the entire thing, and it was worth it. No regrets,” he said.

When discussing the second Guinness World Record attempt, Adebakin described it as even more challenging. The team had to set up large-scale preparation and distribution systems.

“For the second one, for example, that one was even crazier. We had like two big makis, one for the prep and another for the distribution of food,” he explained.

Adebakin said the planning started with creating a menu that followed Guinness World Records guidelines while highlighting Hilda’s wish to feature Nigerian food.

“We designed the menu. We knew she was very particular about a lot of things. Hilda doesn’t play. So one of the first things that she mentioned was that she wanted it to be Nigerian food,” he said.

He added that the team had to choose Nigerian meals that fit the strict time limits of the competition, explaining that every cooking process was carefully timed.

“We were saying, what kind of meals can you cook for two minutes, for five minutes, for 20 minutes, because you’re going to stop at 20 minutes mark,” he said.

The team made detailed schedules, recipes, and plans for buying ingredients while keeping in mind how long ingredients would last and where they would be stored at the event.

“After you put in a timetable, they’re now doing recipes for each. After you do recipes for each, you’re doing the prep for each, you’re doing procurement for each,” he explained.

He added that logistics included planning staff schedules, taking care of their welfare, and ensuring their safety.

“We’re also ensuring that no one is going to die on our watch. So we’re designing the timetable for the staff as well, the welfare for the staff as well,” Adebakin said.

He mentioned that vendors, farmers, and market suppliers played a key role by making sure fresh ingredients were available whenever needed.

“Everybody was on point, right? They were standing by ready to supply us when we needed to supply the right products, the freshest of ingredients,” he said.

Hilda Baci broke the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual in May 2023 after cooking for 93 hours and 11 minutes in Lagos, beating the previous record.

Her success brought global attention and renewed interest in Nigerian food and the country’s culinary scene.