Hilda Baci’s Giant Jollof: How a Nigerian Chef Just Broke a New Guinness World Record

Guinness World Records has confirmed it: Nigerian chef Hilda Effiong Bassey, better known as Hilda Baci, has set a new world record for the Largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice, weighing 8,780 kg (19,356 lb 9 oz). Partnering with Gino Nigeria, her team cooked, plated, and served around 16,600 portions during a nine-hour push she described as “fire, passion, and teamwork,” powered by roughly 1,200 kg of gas, and “served with joy, love, and community.”  

Born and raised in Akwa Ibom State, Hilda studied Sociology at Madonna University, Okija in Anambra State before pivoting fully into culinary entrepreneurship and food media. That blend of academic discipline and creative hustle soon led to hosting gigs, a fast-growing brand, and the confidence to stage audacious, public-facing kitchen feats. 

Hilda first captured global attention in 2023, when Guinness World Records certified her longest cooking marathon (individual) at 93 hours 11 minutes. The spectacle ignited a wave of record fever across Africa, and while endurance titles are often surpassed later (as this one was), the cultural moment cemented her reputation for grit, precision, and showmanship.

After the cook-a-thon, Hilda wanted a challenge that felt less like endurance and more like community at scale. The answer was both simple and daunting: one giant pot of jollof that would still eat like Sunday lunch. With Gino Nigeria on board, engineers, fabricators, and safety teams built and tested a custom vessel; chefs rehearsed workflow; and evidence teams planned documentation to Guinness standards. On paper, it was logistics; in spirit, it was culture.

• Representation: A young Nigerian woman leads a complex, global-grade operation without diluting flavour or story.

• Community: One pot feeding thousands is a powerful image: simple, human, and hopeful.

• Continuity: From Akwa Ibom kitchens to a world-record platform, Hilda shows how local foodways scale without losing their soul.

Lessons for dreamers (Hilda’s playbook)

1. Plant a clear flag. “Feed thousands from one pot” is specific, bold, and shareable.

2. Design for evidence. Records rise or fall on documentation—weights, temps, timings, safety logs, wide shots.

3. Keep flavour first. Scale changes technique: layer seasoning, batch the rice, taste constantly.

4. Plan for the wobble. Redundancy in gear and staffing turns problems into footnotes, not headlines.

5. Tie ambition to meaning. The food fed families; the moment fed pride.

Hilda Baci has now returned to the Guinness books, this time with a communal feat as grand as it is grounded. Paired with her 2023 marathon credentials, the 8,780-kg jollof is a reminder that African cuisine doesn’t need a translator to command the world’s attention; it only needs excellence, evidence, and heart. For anyone chasing a big, audacious goal, Hilda’s message is plain: dream precisely, prepare relentlessly, and serve generously.