Celebrity chef Hilda Baci has officially been confirmed as a three-time Guinness World Records (GWR) title holder, following formal communication from the records body recognising an additional achievement from her September 2025 jollof rice attempt.
In an email dated January 16, Guinness World Records informed Baci that her team’s successful attempt for the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice also met the requirements for another existing category: largest serving of rice.
The message, signed by Andrew Fanning, Head of Client Partnering at Guinness World Records’ Records Creative Team, explained that after a detailed review of the guidelines, the quantity of rice prepared during the event qualified simultaneously for both records. As a result, GWR said it had proactively awarded Baci the additional title.
This confirmation means the September 2025 attempt accounts for two separate Guinness World Records titles, bringing Baci’s total record count to three.
Sharing the email on her Instagram page, Baci revealed that she had been unaware the jollof rice attempt also qualified her for the broader largest serving of rice record until she received the notification.
“I woke up a three-time Guinness World Records holder, and I’m still trying to wrap my head around it,” she wrote. “What a way to step into 2026. I was casually going through my emails when I saw the message come in.”
According to her, the confirmation arrived nearly five months after Guinness World Records had publicly announced the jollof rice achievement.
“I was shocked and happy at the same time, completely caught off guard. Five months after the initial announcement, I was just finding out there was more. When I and Gino Nigeria broke the record for the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice, I thought that was it.”
She added that she had assumed the achievement ended with the Nigerian-style jollof rice category until she received the email confirming the second title.
“What I didn’t know, until now, is that on that same day, we also broke the record for the largest serving of rice overall. So what I thought was one record turned out to be two. And now, officially, that makes three Guinness World Records in total.”
The September 2025 record attempt took place during a nine-hour open-air cooking session at Eko Hotels and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos. The event, supported by Gino Nigeria, saw Baci lead a team that prepared 200 portions using multiple 20-kilogram bags of rice.
Guinness World Records had earlier confirmed the feat solely as the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice. With the latest update, the same attempt is now officially recognised under two categories—one specific to Nigerian-style jollof rice and another covering rice dishes globally.
Baci first gained international attention in May 2023 after completing a marathon cooking session that earned her the Guinness World Record for the longest individual cooking marathon at the time. During the challenge, she cooked for more than four days, surpassing the previous record of 87 hours and 45 minutes set in 2019 by Indian chef Lata Tondon.
Guinness World Records later disclosed that a procedural error affected the final recorded time. The record was subsequently surpassed by Irish chef Alan Fisher, who cooked continuously for 119 hours and 57 minutes.
With the confirmation of the additional title from her September 2025 attempt, Hilda Baci now officially holds three Guinness World Records titles, further cementing her place in global culinary history.
