World Guinness Record holder in the longest cooking marathon, Hilda Bassey, popularly known as Hilda Baci, on Saturday, pledged to continue to work toward putting Nigeria on the global culinary map.
Baci gave the assurance during the Nigerian Gastronomy Festival Gala Night organised by the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR), in Abuja.
According to her, with encouragement from the government, Nigeria will be taking over the global culinary industry.
She said the food industry, if properly developed, could spin as much revenue for the nation like the oil industry.
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Bassey commended NIHOTOUR’s efforts in encouraging individuals to upgrade their cooking skills.
“Like I always say, the food industry is like the oil industry.
“Nigeria is definitely going to be the destination for food tourism, give it another five years, we are already on our way to greatness.
“With everything happening now, giving an opportunity to people to express themselves with food and hospitality, it is a beautiful development in taking us to that enviable height.
“In my own little or big way, I will keep putting in the effort to put Nigerian cuisines on the map to drive more positive attention to Nigeria as a whole, just let people know what we have and are capable of,” she said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Baci officially broke the record for the longest cooking marathon (individual), with a time of 93 hours 11 minutes.
The 26-year-old Nigerian chef began on May 11 and continued through to May 15, cooking over 100 pots of food during her four-day kitchen stint.
Baci attempted to set a record of 100 hours, however, almost seven hours were deducted from her final total because she mistakenly took extra minutes for one of her rest breaks early on in the attempt. (NAN)
