Hilda Baci Guinness World Record success was backed by a week of planning, sleepless nights and detailed logistics, Chef Captain Gibbs reveals
Chef Gbolabo Adebakin, popularly known as Captain Gibbs, has revealed the extensive planning and coordination that went into helping Nigerian chef Hilda Baci achieve her Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
Speaking in an interview with NairametricsTV, which gained widespread attention on Thursday, Adebakin said the team behind the record attempt spent an entire week preparing for what became a four-day cooking marathon in Lagos in May 2023.
According to the chef, the public only witnessed the live cooking, but a much larger operation was taking place behind the scenes to ensure the attempt met Guinness World Records requirements while running smoothly.
“The first one, for example, a lot of us didn’t sleep. And I know, on the Guinness World Record, it was, I think it was four days, because that’s like a hundred and something hours. It was one week for us, for the people behind the scenes. It was one week because we have to prep before the cooking starts,” Adebakin said.
He explained that preparing meals continuously over several days required far more planning than a typical catering event.
“If you are doing an event for maybe a hundred people, you can do your prep in a day. We were doing an event for four days. Now imagine how much prep we needed for that,” he added.
Adebakin disclosed that he had initially booked a hotel close to the venue, expecting to rest during the challenge. However, the demands of the record attempt meant he barely left the venue.
“I thought that I was going to be able to sleep. So I got a hotel close by. But after the first day that I went to refresh, I surrendered. I stayed there throughout the entire thing, and it was worth it. No regrets,” he said.
Reflecting on a later record attempt involving Hilda Baci, Adebakin said the operation became even more demanding, requiring separate stations for food preparation and distribution to keep pace with the marathon.
Beyond logistics, he said the team carefully designed a menu that complied with Guinness World Records guidelines while showcasing Nigerian cuisine, which Hilda Baci had insisted should remain the focus of the challenge.
“We designed the menu. We knew she was very particular about a lot of things. Hilda doesn’t play. One of the first things she mentioned was that she wanted it to be Nigerian food,” he said.
The planning also involved calculating cooking times, managing ingredient freshness, organising recipes and procurement schedules, and ensuring the welfare of staff throughout the marathon.
“We were also ensuring that no one was going to die on our watch. So we were designing the timetable for the staff as well, and the welfare for the staff as well,” Adebakin said.
He added that vendors, farmers and suppliers remained on standby throughout the event to provide fresh ingredients whenever they were needed.
Hilda Baci made global headlines in May 2023 after cooking continuously for 93 hours and 11 minutes, surpassing the previous Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.
Although that record has since been surpassed by another chef, Hilda Baci’s achievement remains one of Nigeria’s most celebrated culinary milestones and helped bring international attention to Nigerian cuisine.
Adebakin’s account offers a rare insight into the teamwork, preparation and dedication that made the historic achievement possible, highlighting that such record attempts depend on far more than the individual standing behind the stove.
