Ghanaian Chef Failatu Abdul-Razak has been cooking an array of regional dishes on live TV since New Year’s Day, in her maiden attempt to break a world record for the longest cooking by an individual, currently held by by Irish chef Alan Fisher, who cooked for 119 hours and 57 minutes in 2023.
As of the time of publishing this article on Monday morning, Failatu had cooked for 172 hours and 23 minutes at a hotel in the Northern city of Tamale in Ghana, where she has set a target of 240 hours. Her attempt is being cheered and celebrated nationally in Ghana with hundreds of locals, celebrities and Government officials streaming to the venue to show her support and have a taste of her meals.
Ghana’s Vice President, Mahamudu Bawumia, posted about the attempt on Facebook mid last week and donated 30,000 Ghanaian Cedis (approx. KSH. 390,000) to the chef.
“Abdul-Razak has put Ghana on the map. So we need to try to honor her,” said Isaac Sackey, the President of the Chefs’ Association of Ghana. Guinness World Records organization is yet to comment on Failatu’s attempt.
Abdul-Razak says her attempt is a national assignment on behalf of Ghana and its citizens. Among the dishes she has prepared are banku; a traditional dish of fermented cornmeal balls in a soup, as well as the spicy jollof rice enjoyed across west Africa.
“If I fail, believe me, I have put our President, Ghanaians, people who have supported (and) groomed me, my family and friends to shame,” she has declared.
Under the guidelines, she is entitled to five-minute breaks every hour or an accumulated one hour after a stretch of 12 hours.
