The African Jollof rivalry is about to hit a new high. Nigerian celebrity chef and food influencer Hilda Effiong Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, has announced an ambitious plan to cook the world’s biggest pot of jollof rice.
Baci, who shot to international fame in 2023 after breaking the Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon (over 90 hours), revealed her new challenge in a video on Instagram on Monday.
A 22,619-Litre Pot for the Challenge
The project will be powered by a custom-built 22,619-litre pot, designed specifically for the attempt. Hilda’s target is to fill the pot at least 75–80%, which translates to roughly 5,278 kilograms of rice.
“It comes to about 264 bags of rice, but I made a strategic adjustment to 250 bags,” she explained.
1,583 Kilograms of Tomato Paste
It’s not just about the rice. Hilda also broke down her ingredient ratios, explaining that she will need 1,583 kilograms of Gino tomato paste to maintain the jollof flavor base.
“For one kilogram of rice, you would need between 0.20 and 0.35 kilograms of paste. But because it’s Nigerian jollof, I’m going with 0.30,” she said.
The paste will be used across multiple bases — tomato, pepper chicken, and jollof — to ensure consistency in taste.
The Jollof War: Nigeria vs. The Rest
The Nigeria–Ghana jollof war has long been a cultural rivalry, and Hilda’s attempt has reignited that competitive spirit. For Nigerians, the feat is not just about cooking but about pride, identity, and bragging rights in West Africa’s favorite culinary debate.
If successful, this record-breaking pot of jollof could become a symbol of Nigerian culinary supremacy.
250 bags of rice. 1,583 kilograms of tomato paste. A 22,619-litre pot. If it works, Nigerians will celebrate it worldwide. If it comes out half-done… let’s just hope it doesn’t.
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