New Delhi: Lata Tondon, a chef from a small town Rewa in Madhya Pradesh, India, recently won the coveted Guinness World Title for the longest time spent cooking. Chef Tondon cooked for 87 hours 45 min non-stop setting the new record. With this feat, she also became the first woman to achieve this milestone in the world.

 The longest cooking marathon was previously held by Rickey Lumpkin from Los Angeles, USA at 68 hours 30 minutes 01 second. Lata Tondon who was training in London as a professional chef, was inspired to surpass this record and become the first Indian woman to own the International title.

The successful event saw Chef Lata cook more than 1,600 kg foodgrains, 400 vada-pavs, 250 sandwiches and a host of other local delicacies over a span of 4 days. The food was served to over 20,000 visitors who attended the event including children from orphanages and blind schools and members of old age homes. An environmentalist at heart, Chef Lata also used this platform to encourage people to purchase and plant over 17,000 saplings.

An alumni of Chef Academy of London, Lata  has won several accolades in the culinary world including winner International Indian Chef of the year in 2018.

Commenting on winning the International honor, Chef Lata Tondon said,”I have been fascinated with cooking since childhood and am fortunate to be surrounded by family and friends who have encouraged me to turn my passion into a career. While I love cooking traditional dishes, I won’t define myself as a conservative chef. I love exploring regional flavours , cooking techniques and finding unexplored ingredients from different parts of india. My vision is to take these unusual hyperlocal ingredients and  create dishes that changes the limited perception of Indian cuisine at a global level.”

Chef Lata Tondon is currently gearing up to launch a coffee table book which will showcase  unexplored cuisines and ingredients from different parts of india . She has also announced plans to open a restaurant in London in the near future that will offer cuisine from India’s lesser-known regions with a twist that appeals all palates. Her vision is to give a new perspective of Indian cuisine, lesser known to most at a global level.