JEDDAH: Four Saudi chefs prepared the largest bowl of soup from oats and a number of other ingredients at a live show in the precincts of Red Sea Mall here on Thursday night.
More than 20,000 spectators including families witnessed the spectacle as the chefs, with 15 assistants, started preparing the soup from Quaker oats in a special enclosure outside Gate 3 of the mall from 10 p.m. Spectators, who included women and children, jostled to take a close view of the event, organized by Ismail Abudawood Trading Co., which lasted more than a couple of hours.
Guinness World Records’ Director of Marketing Paul Kenny, who flew in from London for the event, evaluated the show and awarded a certificate. “This is a world record set by the Saudi chefs for preparing the largest bowl of soup in a new category created under food and beverage segment,” Kenny told Arab News.
The more than 10,000-liter soup was made from 250 kg Quaker oats, 500 kg onion, 400 kg tomatoes and other ingredients including white pepper, garlic, basil, coriander and parsley. The soup was distributed to Al Bir Charity and spectators. “This will be added as a new world record for Saudi Arabia, which already has world records including for the biggest gold ring, biggest individual collection of car number plates and biggest roofed terminal — Haj Terminal — at King Abdul Aziz International Airport,” said Kenny, an Australian who lives in London. “For certification of such claims for world records, they need to be measurable and universal,” he said, adding that claims received at the Guinness are well researched. “We usually take two to eight weeks for acknowledging claims and granting certificates,” he said.
“We were confident our efforts will be recognized by the Guinness World Records,” said Fahd Al-Nahari, who teamed with three other chefs — Ridwan Al-Johani, Majid Al-Hanadi and Majid Shoiey —to prepared the biggest bowl of soup. “We had to wait for the huge quantity of water to boil at the right temperature for preparing the soup,” he said.
Turky A. Kari, category demand manager and director of Quaker at Ismail Abdudawood Trading Co., said the strategy was adopted with a twin purpose — of entering the Guinness World Records and for increasing the appeal of Quaker oats among Saudis.
Some of the Guinness records held by Saudis include the biggest gold ring, made with 50 kg pure gold, which belongs to a jewelry manufacturer. All of 62 kg ring, studded with seven precision cut stones, is named Najmat Taiba (Star of Taiba).
Earlier this year, Mohammed Yahya Al-Assiri became the first Saudi to enter the Guinness Book of World Records. Assiri, who has a personal museum in Dammam, has the largest collection of 80 old car number plates issued during the era of King Abdul Aziz, the founder and unifier of Saudi Arabia. Some of the plates date back 65 years.
The Haj Terminal, built for arriving and departing Haj pilgrims, is roofed by a fabric tension structure that covers more area than any roof in the world.
