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An attempt by Nigerian food influencer and renowned chef Hilda Baci to make the world's largest dish of jollof rice ended in a heartbreak after the pot used in the attempt broke, but hope lingers on that the feat efforts will earn the recognition of Guinness World Record.
Baci, with her team of 10 chefs wearing uniforms embarked on the marathon that took them nine hours, expertly mixing recipes to produce the world's largest popular West African dish and make history.
The recipe included 612 kg of oil, 800 kg of Gino Asun peppered chicken and party jollof, 600 kg of jollof pepper mix, 220 kg of Gino Asun & peppered chicken cubes, 20 g of Gino curry and 7 g of Gino thyme.
It also included 300 kg of onion, garlic & ginger blend, 164 kg of fresh goat meat with 1,200 kg of gas used.
READ: Hilda Baci congratulates Irish chef who broke her Guinness world record
Thousands gathered in Lagos and watched as Baci and her team embarked on the feat, using a custom-made pot with a capacity of 23000 litres.
What next after Hilda Baci’s attempt for largest dish of jollof ended with pot breaking
After a grueling nine hours, the jollof rice was finally ready for weighing, with a large crane on site to lift the huge red pot and confirm its weight.
Attempts to weigh the pot and its contents proved futile on two attempts with videos captured at the widely-publicised event show the moment when one side of the pot buckled as it was being lifted, with the supporting leg caving in.
What next
Nonetheless, the food did not spill, raising hopes that the team’s efforts may not go to waste with the dish which also included 168kg of goat meat served to the crowd that cheered her on all through the cookathon.
READ: Web traffic for Hilda Baci's cook-a-thon crashed Guinness Records' site for 2 days
Baci remains hopeful that their feat will make it to the GuinNess World Records (GWR).
The team confirmed that they are gathering evidence from different cameras positioned at the venue to send to GWR for their feat to be officially recognised.
Preparation for the attempt was intense with a team of 300 taking two months to make the giant pot as Nigeria sought to stake its claim of having the record for the world’s largest dish of jollof rice.
Inspired by the popularity of the dish across the world and its origin in the region, Baci and her team
She was quoted by BBC stating that “We [Nigerians] are the giants of Africa, and jollof is a food that everybody knows Africans for It would make sense if we had the biggest pot of jollof rice; it would be nice for the country.”
Baci's previous record
Hilda Baci is an experienced chef who wrote her name in the Guiness World Record in 2023 for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
She cooked for over 97 hours non-stop, surpassing the previous record of 87 hours and 45 minutes, set in September 2019 by Lata Tandon.
A few months later, Irish chef Alan Fisher broke Baci’s record with a solo cooking marathon that lasted 119 hours and 57 minutes.