16 May 2023
Hilda Baci is a chef in Lagos, Nigeria. She recently stayed in the kitchen for 100 hours and only took short breaks each hour. She started cooking on May 11 and did not stop until May 15.
Baci's goal was to break the Guinness World Record for longest cooking time. An Indian chef set the current record of 87 hours, 45 minutes in 2019.
Baci made classic Nigerian food like soups, stew and meats. She even made Jollof rice, one of the most famous West African meals.
Chef Hilda Baci cooks to establish a new Guinness world record for the "longest cooking marathon", the 97-hour cook-a-thon, in Lagos, Nigeria, Thursday, May 11, 2023. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Baci finished her cooking on the night of May 15. Thousands of people were there when she put down her cooking tools at 7:45 at night.
Guinness published a tweet about Baci's effort. It said it knew about her record-breaking attempt but noted that it would need to do a review before "officially confirming a record."
Baci said she wanted to break the cooking record to show the world how determined Nigerian people are. She also said she wanted to make people understand that there are not enough work opportunities for Nigerian women.
She said women "have to go an extra mile to be taken seriously."
Baci added that she wanted to teach the world a little bit about Nigerian food.
Thousands of people came past the kitchen to cheer for Baci as she cooked for four days. Many more people watched an online video showing her work.
Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari used Twitter to say good words about the chef. He praised her "drive, ambition and resilience."
Kingsley Ofoma was there as Baci got close to the 100-hour mark. He got to eat some of her food for free. But he said that was not even the best part of the experience.
"The energy here is very high and positive," he said. "Everybody is having fun."
I'm Jill Robbins.
Dan Friedell adapted this story for Learning English based on a report by The Associated Press.
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Words in This Story
chef –n. a trained person who runs a kitchen and makes food for others
classic –adj. something traditional and respected that a person or place is known for
record –n. an official mark that is recognized as the best or fastest in an event
opportunity –n. the chance to do something
determined –adj. willing to do hard work and overcome problems
extra mile –expression. doing more than is expected of the average person
drive –n. energy to get something accomplished
ambition –n. something a person hopes to do or achieve
resilience –n. the ability to come back from disappointment or trouble