‘Banku’ It: The Ghanaian Chef on course to Break World Cook-a-thon Record
Bank On It is a hit track from Burna Boy’s award-winning album, Twice As Tall, which won the Best Global Music Album category at the 2021 Grammy awards.
With a delicious mix of preparing Banku, jollof rice and other regional dishes on live television, Ghanaian chef, Failatu Abdul-Razak, has captured national and global attention since New Year’s Day as she tries to break a world record for marathon cooking.
Failatu had announced her 120-hour cooking attempt on her social media on January 1, as she started her cook-a-thon exercise at the Modern City Hotel, Tamale, Ghana.
As of Tuesday, the Ghanaian chef had cooked for about 200 hours at the hotel in the northern city of Tamale where she is aiming to break the Guinness World Record for a cook-a-thon of 119 hours and 57 minutes held by Irish chef Alan Fisher, although the Guinness World Records organisers are yet to make a statement about Failatu’s attempt.
In November 2023, Fisher had broken the last world record held by Nigerian chef Hilda Effiong Bassey, renowned as Hilda Baci, who clocked a time of 93 hours, 11 minutes in May, beating the previous record of 87 hours and 45 minutes set by India’s Lata Tondon in 2019.
Failatu’s quest for the world record has brought her national and international fame, noted the president of the Chefs’ Association of Ghana, Isaac Sackey, who stated that the chef “has put Ghana on the map; so we need to try to honor her.”
Ghanaian Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia reportedly donated 30,000 Ghana Cedis ($2,564) to the chef, while urging her to ‘go for gold.’
If the Guinness World Record officially recognises Failatu’s attempt, then the Ghanaian chef might be able to bank on her Banku-inspired feat for more global accolades.
