Ghana's Chef Faila Abdul Razak hits 113 hour mark in Guinness record cook-a-thon attempt

Failatu Abdul-Razak during cook-a-thon in Tamale, northern Ghana on January 5, 2024.   -  
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Cleared / AP

Ghanaian chef Failatu Abdul-Razak has been cooking since January 1st to break the Guiness world record.

As of Friday afternoon, the chef had cooked for over 113 hours at a hotel in the northern city of Tamale.

Failatu Abdul-Razak aims to break the Guinness World Record for a cook-a-thon of 119 hours and 57 minutes held by Irish chef Alan Fisher. Celebrities, politicians and ordinary people have flocked to the hotel to watch the chef cook and enjoy the food.

"It is history in the making and as a Ghanaian I'm proud to be part of it,” said supporter Fuseini Musah.

World record attempt frenzy

West Africa has been gripped in a frenzy of world record attempts in several categories since Nigerian chef Hilda Baci claimed the world cooking record last May with a 100-hour performance before being dethroned by Fisher.

Chef Abdul-Razak is reportedly aiming to cook for 200 hours.

But there have been concerns raised about the endeavour's likely mental toll on chef Abdul-Razak.

Last month, Ghanaian Afua Asantewaa Owusu Aduonum was forced to end her attempt to break the world record for the longest time spent singing, after her medical team said her body showed signs of mental stress.

Abdul-Razak had said at the outset that her attempt was a “national assignment” on behalf of Ghana and its citizens.

Under the guidelines, she is entitled to only five-minute breaks every hour or an accumulated one hour after a stretch of 12 hours.

The Guinness World Record organization has yet to publicly comment about Abdul-Razak’s attempt, which could reach 120 hours in the early hours of Saturday and any confirmation of the feat from the organization would likely come long afterward.

Chef Abdul-Razak has been preparing banku -a traditional dish made from fermented maize and cassava dough- and other regional dishes on live TV since New Year’s Day.

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