Kenyan Chef Maliha Mohammed Breaks Guinness World Record

We love our food, but Kenyan chef, Maliha Mohammed has shown that she loves it more. Maliha Mohammed is the new world record holder for cooking for 75 hours (3 days and 3 hours). She has overthrown Rickey Lumpkin of California, USA, who previously held the record for cooking for 68 hours 30 minutes.

Maliha Mohammed prepared 400 local and international recipes in the cooking marathon. The mother of two applied for the competition in April 2018 but missed out due to financial constraints. The financial cost was close to KSh500,000 ($4800) which she could not afford. 

“It is a costly event and that is why last year (2018) I failed to participate due to financial challenges, I could not meet the cost. I am calling on well-wishers to support me this year so that I bring the award home.”

She applied again in December 2018. In February 2019, she received an email confirming her nomination. This time, with the support of Pwani Oil Company she was able to participate in the competition.

The journey of Chef Maliha Mohammed to becoming a world record holder

Maliha Mohammed is a graduate of Jaffrey Academy. The 36-year old chef built her culinary diversity through YouTube videos. She started her cooking at 10 am on Thursday, August 15 and continued till Sunday, August 18, 2019. Her signature dish was the Korean chicken Bulgogi. While speaking with journalists at Kenya Bay Beach Hotel in Mombasa, the chef could not hold back her tears.

“I thank God, my family, Pwani Oil Company and everyone who contributed to my success of bringing this title home. I am happy to be the first female chef in Africa to earn this title. For every 12 hours, I had a break of 30 minutes for rest. I thank God for reaching this far. I am going to rest for a very long time.”

Before heading to the competition, Maliha Mohammed underwent two trials this year. The first was in June when she cooked for 36 hours and prepared 100 recipes. She tried in July and cooked 200 recipes in 54 hours. The food she prepared will be shared to orphanages and charity homes as part of her initiative to raise awareness on the less fortunate in Mombasa. Encouraging the youths, she said,

“For the youths out there, if you have a talent in anything, let alone be cooking, you just have to be persistent in yourself. You need to be relentless of your own dream because nobody can fight for your dream but yourself.”

Congratulatory messages for the chef

The title will be confirmed in two weeks after Guinness World Record authenticates the pictures and videos. In a message of congratulations, the commercial director of Pwani Oil Company, Mr. Rajui Malde said,

“It has taken her a lot of effort and enthusiasm to achieve all this. We are hopeful that Guinness World Record will accord her a chance to travel and showcase Kenyan food to the world which will boost our tourism.”

Maliha Mohammed’s daughter, Zahara Rashid also spoke highly of her mother. In an interview, the Coast Girls High School student said,

“She is one of the first females in Kenya who is bringing the record home. So, I am very proud of my mom because I can say, yes! This is chef Maliha my mother who brought the Guinness World Record of non-stop cooking, 75 hours.”

Other Kenyans in the Guinness World Record list are Joseph Love for milking 30 cows by hand in 1 hour in 1992 and Kimani Ng’ang’a Maruge for enrolling in a primary school in 2004 at the age of 84.