Kenyan chef Maliha Mohammed now plans to break Hilda Baci's 100-hour cooking marathon

Mombasa-based Kenyan chef Maliha Mohammed, who made history in 2019 by cooking for over 75 hours straight, is preparing for yet another stab at the title.

This time, although it isn't what she initially set out for, the renowned chef aims to surpass the record recently set by Nigerian chef Hilda Baci.

Back in 2019, chef Mohammed cooked non-stop for an impressive 75 hours in a bid to solidify her place in culinary history and earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records, although it remains unclear whether the global reference book really recognized her feat.

This as her name in the Guinness World Records website yields no search, only recognizing Indian chef Lata Tondon as the current holder of the cooking marathon record after a marathon of 87 hours and 45 minutes in September 2019.

Chef Mohammed, on her part, started cooking at the Kenya Bay Beach Resort in Mombasa on Friday, August 15 at 10am, finally finishing her 75-hour 'cook-a-thon' on Sunday, August 18 at 1pm.

Throughout the three days, she cooked 400 dishes including traditional Swahili foods like coconut beans, fried fish, mandazis, mukimo (mashed potatoes and green vegetables) and githeri (corn and beans) - as well as international cuisines like Indian biryani and chapati, Portuguese chicken peri peri and more than 10 different types of pizza.

At first, the chef - a mother of two - conducted her first trial at Technical University of Mombasa (TUM) by cooking 100 recipes for 36 hours non-stop.

And then in July of the same year, she began the second trial of 200 recipes for 54 hours before going for the final marathon on August 12, which was supervised by officials from the Guinness World Records.

“I am happy to be the first female chef in Africa to earn this title," Chef Maliha told Kenya's Daily Nation then. "I thank God for reaching this far. I am going to rest for a very long time."

Taking to Instagram on Wednesday, Chef Mohammed revealed that she had submitted an application in December 2022 to attempt to break the record in 2023.

This was way before Nigeria's chef Hilda Baci stormed to the scene.

In an email notification from the Guinness World Records team, she was informed that the challenge would take place in August.

The indefatigable chef is set to attempt two records - the 'Longest Cooking by an Individual Marathon' and the 'Home Kitchen Cooking Marathon,’ both scheduled for August 11 and October 11 respectively.

To prepare for the arduous cooking marathon, Chef Mohammed has planned a rigorous training schedule spanning May, June, and July.

"I will be training hard from May all the way to July as I prepare to break these records," she said in an Instagram video.

The chef has now humbly requested support from fellow Kenyans in the form of encouragement and donations in kind or cash to aid her training process and eventual 'cook-a-thon'.

In a warm show of support, chef Mohammed took the opportunity to congratulate her 27-year old Nigerian counterpart Hilda Baci, who just shattered Lata Tondon’s previous record by cooking for a staggering 100 hours plus.

"Records are made to be broken. It doesn't matter what country or continent you are in," said chef Mohammed.

Despite overwhelming evidence, chef Hilda Baci's feat is currently still being reviewed by the Guinness World Records' team to officially confirm her record.