I never liked cooking until I was 6, says Hilda Baci

Hilda Baci, the Nigerian chef, says cooking was not her childhood passion.

In a recent interview on Tea with Tay podcast, Baci said while growing up, she did not enjoy preparing foods with her mother.

The chef, however, disclosed that she started getting interested in cooking “between six and eight years” after she made spaghetti and the reviews were positive.

“Cooking started early with my mum. No, I did not enjoy cooking with my mum,” she said.

“It was not a passion from childhood. If I tell you that, that is me trying to cook up a story and that is a lie.

“It was something I watched my mum do, then I started trying it out. Obviously, they will drag you to the kitchen when they want to cook, they will tell you to do this and do that.

“But I remember when I started getting interested in cooking was when I made spaghetti and the reviews on the spaghetti was so good. I was eight years old then, between six and eight.

“So when we traveled to Calabar to see my dad, my mum called me to make spaghetti for my Aunty. I feel like I liked the attention that sort of came with it. I have always enjoyed feeding people and I still do.”

In June, Baci was certified by Guinness World Record (GWR) as the record holder for the longest cooking marathon by an individual.

She achieved the feat after cooking for 93 hours and 11 minutes.

In an interview with TheCable Lifestyle, Baci announced plans to turn her cook-a-thon into a festival.