Kenyan Chef Cooks 75 Hours Non-Stop, Breaks Guinness World Record

Kenyan chef Maliha Mohammed is the new Guinness world record holder for the longest cooking chef. The Mombasa-based chef cooked for 75 hours non-stop, breaking the previous record held by Rickey Lumpkin from California, USA, who cooked for 68 hours 30 minutes and 1 second non-stop in December 2018. 

 “I have always loved cooking. My greatest joy is in coming up with exciting dishes both local and international cuisine, I will forever be grateful to Pwani Oil for their sponsorship and helping realize my dream," she said in a press briefing at the event. 

“I will continue perfecting my cooking skills and look forward to surpassing this record in future. I encourage young people with various talents to aim for the sky and show the world what they have to offer,” she added. 

In preparation for the cooking event, Maliha took two trial sessions. She took the first trial in June where she cooked for 36 hours and 100 recipes. The second trial was in July where she cooked for 54 hours and prepared over 200 recipes. She later participated in a competition supervised by officials from Guinness World Record. Her support team worked in 9-hour shifts. She made over 400 recipes. All the food she made, during the trials and the competition, fed the less fortunate children in Mombasa. 

Maliha will be in the Guinness World Records upon confirmation. She will join other Kenyans such as Kimani Maruge who became the world's oldest pupil in 2004 at 84, Joseph Love who milked 30 cows by hand in 24 hours in 1992, and the athletes Paul Tergat, Tegla Lorupe, and Samuel Wanjiru who have broken records in the athletic sector. 

Maliha plans to showcase Kenyan dishes, especially Swahili dishes from her culture, to the rest of the world. 

Header Image Credit: KBC