Chef Smith: I am not here to break Chef Faila's cook-a-thon record

In July of last year, Chef Smith applied to the Guinness World Record to get permission to organize his cook-a-thon; but, at that time, his application was rejected. When it was ultimately authorized in September, he reapplied.

During his cook-a-thon at the Amadia Shopping Centre, Spintex, in Accra on Tuesday, February 6, Chef Smith spoke with Graphic Showbiz and voiced his disappointment at people making snap judgments about him without knowing all the details.

It's terrible that people tend to draw conclusions too quickly. In my case, for example, I'm not getting the support I need from the public because Ghanaians believe my attempt to have a cook-a-thon is an attempt to discredit Faila's record.

That is not at all what I'm doing; my goal is not to outdo Faila or anyone else. I began chasing my goal last year after being inspired by Hilda Baci of Nigeria, who completed hers in May. My application was denied in July.

"Thank God, He gave me the go-ahead in September of last year. It's just a coincidence that my readiness coincides with another Ghanaian's."

This is a worldwide tournament rather than a national one. It is not my fault that things went wrong, so I want to utilize this platform to ask Ghanaians to support me on this great cause. The date was set by the officials, but there is only conflict when someone extends the date during the effort, he said.

Chef Smith, a graduate of National University's College of Tourism and Hospitality Management in the Philippines, is attempting to set a record for the longest cooking marathon by one person with a 360-hour challenge.

Chef Smith started his job on Thursday, February 1, and as of Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m., he had completed 150 hours. His goal is to be done by March 6.

With a length of 119 hours and 57 minutes, Irish chef Alan Fisher, who owns a restaurant in Japan, currently holds the official Guinness World Record for the longest cooking marathon by an individual. He succeeded Hilda Baci of Nigeria, who had held the record for ninety-three hours.

It's interesting to note that a number of people have attempted to win the title after Alan Fisher.

The first was the Dorcus Mirembe of Uganda, also referred to as Mama D, who completed 123 hours and 20 minutes in December 2023. She has not yet received an official verification from Guinness World Records. The same goes for Beauty Obasuyi, a Nigerian-Canadian who completed 447 hours, and Chef Faila of Ghana, who also recorded 227 hours.

Chef Smith expressed his desire to establish a record that would be challenging to surpass to Graphic Showbiz.

"I extended it to a month to make it tough for anyone to beat the record. I had originally planned to do 15 days, but I realized that people are coming up to break the record.

"There hasn't been much support, but the few people that go by give me hope. I understand that people are back at work and have limited time, but even their brief presence helps to inspire me," he said.