The Guinness World Record for Longest Cooking Time now has a new winner, surpassing the previous record set by Nigerian chef Hilda Baci.
Alan Fisher, a restaurant owner and chef was announced today, November 7, by Guinness World Records (GWR) to have cooked for an incredible 119 hours and 57 minutes at his restaurant in Japan, beating Baci’s record of 93 hours, 11 minutes.
Nigerian cooking queen Hilda Baci has been dethroned 😳
Alan Fisher from Ireland cooked for an incredible 119 hours and 57 minutes at his restaurant in Japan 🥄
— Guinness World Records (@GWR) November 7, 2023
Baci had made a sensation across Nigeria and in parts of Africa, drawing support even from high-profile Nigerian figures during her record attempt in May. She cooked over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint, beating the 2019 record set by India’s Lata Tondon.
In Fisher’s case, he not only claimed the crowned for longest cooking time, he now also holds the World Record for Longest Baking Time (Individual), with a time of 47 hours 21 minutes, beating previous record holder, Wendy Sandner (USA) who did so with a time of 31 hours 16 minutes.
“What’s even more impressive is that Alan took on both attempts back to back, meaning he was at work in the kitchen for over 160 hours with just over a day of rest in between!,” Guinness World Records (GWR) said.
The Guinness World Records quoted Fisher as saying he drew inspiration from “Lata and Hilda’s achievements” especially in a time of difficulty for his business, amidst a Covid-19 pandemic.
“When Omicron spread, a sudden dining out advisory from the local Government meant I lost all my reservations for the month of July 2022 and needed to take out a pandemic support loan just to pay bills.
“I was broke and heartbroken. To have worked so hard for so long, to give up your own savings, your own salary and then still need a loan simply to stay in business with no guarantee things will recover. That was a tough pill to swallow,” he is quoted to have said.
In all, he cooked and baked 3,360 portions consisting of 32 recipes in the nine days of the cooking marathon.
