Guinness World Records gave official recognition of Nigerian chief Hilda Baci by recognizing his rice jollof, concocted in Lagos last Friday, as the biggest in the world ever.
Baci praised the feat on X, where Guinness also confirmed “the largest portion of Nigerian style jollof rice – 8,780 kg” or 19,356 pounds and nine ounces.
“We did it again,” said Baci in reference to a previous record, set in 2023, when it set a brand for the marathon cuisine with a passage of 93 hours, 11 minutes, which was then exceeded by the Irish chef Alan Fisher.
The distinction was an early birthday gift for Baci, which is 30 years old this weekend, while its effort of several hours, cooked in a six-meter (20 feet) jar (20 feet) wide, materialized after pouring around five tonnes of basmati rice, 600 kilos of onion and 750 kilos of cooking oil, marinated in a tomato sauce, because some people approved it.
The popular West African dish has simmered rice in a tomato sauce, accompanied by meat or fish – although there are different versions through the continent.
Jollof Rice has its roots in the old Wolof Empire, which extended from what is today in Senegal in Mauritania and Gambia.
In the 14th century, the region was renowned for its rice culture, and people were preparing a dish made from rice, fish, seafood and vegetables, known as Thiebou Diene.
With the migration of the Wolof people through West Africa, the culinary tradition has spread.
Today, there is a rivalry of Jollof, in particular between Nigeria and Ghana, which both claim to have the best recipe, but in 2021, it was a Senegalese variant that obtained a place on the UNESCO’s incorporal cultural heritage list.
