On September 12, 2025, popular Nigerian chef, Hilda Bassey, widely known as Hilda Baci, set another record at the World Jollof Festival in Lagos by cooking the largest pot of jollof rice.
Reflecting on the experience and recounting the dramatic moment when the giant custom-made pot unexpectedly collapsed, Baci said; “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.”
“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.”
“As the crane hoisted the pot for weighing, one side gave way and the support legs collapsed, though the rice remained intact.”
“So I reached out to our adjudicator, and I let him know that the pot caved… And he’s like, let’s just proceed… we had to look for different cameras to see if we had a recording, a clear recording of that, because for me, transparency is very, very important.”
“So once we were able to establish that we had a clear recording of that, it was just straight to the next thing, like to distribute the food.”
“Reflecting on my achievements, it’s just a testament that God is good and I’m a child of grace. When I tell you grace is here and you doubt me, look at my track record. Trust the Lord.”
For those who don’t know, Hilda Baci made history in May 2023 by setting a record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual, completing an impressive 93 hours and 11 minutes..