Nigerian chef and restaurateur Hilda Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, has shared a tense moment during her Guinness World Record feat for cooking the largest pot of jollof rice.
The incident occurred when the giant custom made pot unexpectedly collapsed.
In a video interview, Hilda revealed how the incident shook her confidence. “When we had the mishap with the pot, my first few seconds, my heart was in my hands. I was very scared, very worried,” she said. However, her priority at that point was feeding people, not the record itself.
“For me, the record was not the most important thing. It was important that people got to taste and enjoy the food we had spent hours making,” she explained. The pot’s failure turned out to be helpful, making food distribution a lot easier. “I would say it was a good thing that the pot caved because it made food distribution a lot easier… it was a blessing in disguise.”
The dramatic scene unfolded on September 12 at the World Jollof Festival in Lagos, where Hilda and her team cooked nearly 8,780 kilograms of jollof rice. As the crane hoisted the pot for weighing, one side gave way and the support legs collapsed, though the rice remained intact.
Hilda’s team submitted photographic and video evidence of the weighing to Guinness World Records, which later certified her as the official holder of the largest pot of jollof rice cooked at one time. She recalled how swiftly they had to respond, making sure the process remained credible and properly documented.
This recognition comes after her previous triumph in May 2023, when she set the record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual. Hilda attributed her success to God’s grace, saying, “It’s just a testament that God is good and I’m a child of grace.”