Behind Nigerian chef Hilda Baci’s historic 93-hour cooking marathon lay an intensive logistical operation that kept her support team awake for a full week, according to Chef Gbolabo Adebakin, known as Captain Gibbs.
Speaking on a recent episode of NairametricsTV’s “The Chef Who Wants to Standardise Nigeria’s Food Industry,”* the convener of The Nigeria Food Summit detailed the immense behind-the-scenes effort required to execute the May 2023 Guinness World Record attempt in Lagos, which ultimately thrust Nigerian cuisine into the global spotlight.
While Baci cooked continuously for over four days, Adebakin explained that the support crew worked around the clock for seven days to handle menu design, ingredient sourcing, staff welfare, and strict regulatory compliance.
“If you are doing like an event for maybe a hundred people, you can do your prep in a day. We’re doing an event for four days. Now imagine how much prep we need for that,” Adebakin said.
The marathon task forced the chef to abandon plans to rest at a nearby hotel.
“I thought that I was going to be able to sleep… I surrendered. I stayed there throughout the entire thing, and it was worth it. No regrets,” he said.
Structuring the menu required precise mathematical planning to meet the stringent timing rules of Guinness World Records. The team drew up detailed timetables, individual recipes, and procurement strategies to deliver Baci’s vision of showcasing authentic Nigerian dishes within rigid time limits.
“We were saying, what kind of meals can you cook for two minutes, for five minutes, for 20 minutes, because you’re going to stop at 20 minutes mark,” Adebakin explained.
Operations were further complicated by storage constraints and the limited shelf life of fresh produce. To keep the kitchen supplied, a network of farmers, vendors, and market suppliers remained on constant standby, while internal rotas were drawn up to manage crew safety and fatigue.
The logistical scale expanded even further for a subsequent record attempt, which required deploying massive marquees dedicated exclusively to food preparation and distribution.