Nigerian celebrity chef Hilda Baci has set a new Guinness World Record for the largest serving of Nigeria-style jollof rice, preparing a pot weighing 8,780 kilograms during a day-long event on Victoria Island in Lagos. Guinness World Records confirmed the achievement on Monday, saying the amount surpassed the required 4,700 kilograms for the category.
Baci said the effort "took nine hours of fire, passion, and teamwork," after the cooking and serving operation, which drew hundreds of onlookers who received portions of the meal. The preparation drew a moment of high drama when the retrofitted pot collapsed under a crane during the weighing process, an incident organizers said was handled without reports of serious injury.
Jollof rice, a staple across West Africa made from rice cooked in a pepper-based sauce, often serves as a cultural touchstone and competitive point of pride among countries in the region. Organizers said the mountain of rice prepared for Saturday's event was distributed to hundreds who attended to cheer Baci during the attempt.
Guinness World Records announced the breaking of the record on its official X account. The confirmation capped a carefully managed public spectacle that combined culinary performance with logistical challenges, including the construction of an oversized cooking vessel and the coordination needed to cook, weigh and serve thousands of kilograms of food safely.
Baci first rose to international attention in 2023 after she briefly held the record for the longest cooking marathon, an event that lasted 93 hours and 11 minutes. That record was later surpassed by Irish chef Alan Fisher, but Baci's earlier marathon prompted a wave of similar record attempts across West Africa as young people and creatives sought global recognition through endurance and community-focused stunts such as long read-alouds, skipping rope marathons and extended speeches.
Event organizers said the Lagos attempt was intended both as a celebration of Nigerian cuisine and as a logistical demonstration of community feeding. Authorities and volunteers coordinated distribution on Victoria Island, an upscale commercial district where the event was staged.
Officials with Guinness did not immediately provide further technical details about the weighing process or the adjudication timeline beyond the social post confirming that Baci exceeded the qualifying weight. Media organizations covering the event noted the effort's mix of culinary skill, community participation and the careful engineering required to scale typical home-cooking techniques to record-setting quantities.
The achievement arrives amid a growing trend of large-scale, record-focused cultural events in the region that marry traditional foodways with social media visibility. For many observers in Nigeria and beyond, the attempt reinforced the symbolic role of jollof rice in regional identity and friendly rivalry, while spotlighting the logistical and safety considerations that accompany efforts to set new world records.