Hilda Baci Guinness World Records Shattered As Irish Chef Clocks 119 Hours 57 Minutes
Alan Fisher, an Irish restaurant owner and chef based in Japan, has broken the world record for the longest cooking marathon previously held by Nigerian chef Hilda Baci. Clocking in at an impressive 119 hours and 57 minutes, Alan surpassed Baci’s record by over 24 hours.
Not only that, but he also claimed the title for the longest baking marathon with a time of 47 hours and 21 minutes, beating the previous record holder, Wendy Sandner from the USA.
What’s even more remarkable is that Alan took on both challenges consecutively, spending over 160 hours in the kitchen with just a day’s rest in between. Despite facing various obstacles, such as back pain from mixing dough by hand, Alan persevered and emerged victorious.
Towards the end of the longest cooking marathon (individual) record attempt, Alan had to endure fatigue and sleepiness.
He said: “I peeled roughly 300 kg of potatoes during the cooking marathon. For the first few days, I would look forward to this each evening as it gave me a chance to sit down.”
“Towards the end of the cooking marathon however, as fatigue started to take hold I would find it more and more difficult to stay awake whenever I sat down to start peeling. The rhythm of the peeling would almost hypnotize me. I had one hallucination on the second-to-last day. I turned to ask someone to pass me something, like I would on any normal day only to realize there was no one there.”
Despite the challenges, Alan said it was the people of the town who supported his record attempt who gave him the push to carry on.
“It got to the point where I definitely couldn’t give up. In my mind, I was representing myself, my family, and Irish food, and through these attempts, I was sharing our story. As time went by it became clear that many people in Matsue were also wishing me well. As if I had been adopted into this community over 9,000 km from my home. How could I not persevere? That was the only option.”
After nine days of baking and cooking, Alan had made 357 kg worth of soda bread and 590 kg worth of dishes (3,360 portions consisting of 32 recipes). But it was all worth it when he received his two world record certificates.
