Celebrity chef Hilda Baci’s mother has attributed her daughter’s Guinness World Record for the largest serving of Nigerian-style jollof rice to prayer, fasting, and God’s mercy. Speaking during Pastor Jerry Eze’s NSPPD online service on Tuesday, Mrs. Bassey said, “What God cannot do does not exist.”
She recounted how Baci planned to cook a six-metre-wide pot using 250 bags of basmati rice, prompting concerns over the pot’s size and stability. “When she sent me the video of the pot, I said, what kind of rice is this one? That pot was like my office,” Bassey said, describing the meticulous preparations that included fasting, prayer, and careful supervision of the event.
The giant pot eventually required 200 bags of rice, 20 goats, 30 gallons of oil, and large quantities of tomato paste and seasoning. Mrs. Bassey recalled her fears about the pot collapsing but said her faith reassured her. “It was made by man, but you are God. May it not leak. Because if it leaked, the flame and the gas would catch fire. That would have turned joy to disaster. But God did it,” she said.
According to Bassey, her daughter encouraged the team to pray in the final minutes of cooking. “About 40 minutes to go, she came to me and said, ‘Mommy, we need to pray in the Holy Ghost. This is the first time you people will eat rice that the Holy Ghost will cook,’” she said.
Guinness officials later verified the achievement, weighing the pot with a crane and confirming the record. The final serving weighed 8,780 kilograms (19,356 lb 9 oz), setting a new world record.
Baci, who first gained recognition with a Guinness cook-a-thon in 2023, now holds two world records, cementing her status as one of Nigeria’s leading culinary figures. She celebrated the accomplishment on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “We have done it again #nigeria #hildabaci.”
Mrs. Bassey also expressed gratitude for the massive turnout at the event. “When I saw the crowd, I just said, what God cannot do does not exist. Father, no one will collapse here, no death, no accident, no evil report. And that was how it ended, everything in praise,” she said.
The record-breaking feat took place at Victoria Island, Lagos, Nigeria, and drew widespread attention for its scale, faith-driven preparation, and flawless execution.
