Professional chef Nick DiGiovanni (USA) and Lynn Davis (Japan) from cookingwithLynja are on a roll after achieving two new record titles.
The two have risen to internet stardom from their viral cooking videos on TikTok, where together they have over 22 million followers.
On 7 October 2022, the duo joined forces in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, to attempt the records for the fastest time to fillet a 10 Ib fish and the largest sushi roll (width).
The team created a gigantic roll weighing about the same as forty-five thousand regular-sized sushi rolls, using the following ingredients:
- 2,000 Ibs (907.1 kg) of well-seasoned sushi rice
- 500 Ibs (226.7 kg) of sushi grade salmon
- 500 Ibs (226.7 kg) of fresh cucumbers
- Thousands of sheets of nori
- Millions of sesame seeds
The hefty roll measured a whopping 2.16 m (7 ft 1 in) and required three hours and a team of eight to prepare, proving that in this case, there can never be too many cooks in the kitchen.
But what does the process of supersizing the traditional Japanese dish look like?
Well, for one thing, it requires a "boatload" of fish.
"We have lots and lots of salmon, and these babies aren’t going to fillet themselves," said Nick.
"And that’s why we’re going to warm up for today’s record with another record attempt."
So, in an effort to beat Gordon Ramsay’s record for the fastest time to fillet a 10 Ib fish, Nick began slicing and dicing a savoury 10-pound (4.5 kg) salmon.
With a record time to beat of 1 minute and 5 seconds, Nick put his filleting skills to the test and used his knife to quickly and carefully debone the fish.
In just 1 minute and 0.29 seconds, the 2019 MasterChef finalist became the new fish-prepping pro, beating Ramsay’s record by 4.71 seconds.
"Now that we finished filleting our salmon, it’s time to get going with the main event," said Nick, as Lynn brought out a set of colossal chopsticks.
To create the largest sushi roll (width), the acclaimed chef duo sought help from a junior engineering student at Northeastern University to create an inner mould which would temporarily hold the filling ingredients, and an outer support structure to hold the sushi roll together.
The two slipped on their booties and stepped inside the giant 7-foot sushi mould, which was lined with a layer of dry ice to keep it cold.
"We’ll start by layering in our 500 pounds of cucumbers," said Nick.
"Given how big this sushi roll is, we can keep these babies whole."
The team continued by packing sushi rice around the edges of the mould to help lock in the ingredients and give the roll a nice foundation.
Next, Nick added in oil and vinegar to make the rice taste better and fluff it up a bit.
After spreading around all two thousand pounds of rice, Nick and Lynn began piling hundreds of pounds worth of salmon into the centre mould.
Lastly, Nick reinforced the sushi roll mould with tape to keep it from bursting open and spilling all the ingredients onto the floor.
Nick said one of the biggest challenges wasn’t creating the gigantic sushi roll, but pulling the mould, that was keeping the salmon and cucumber in place, out from the middle.
Using all hands on deck, the entire team pulled the mould up at once, with the centre luckily remaining perfectly intact.
Before allowing official Guinness World Records adjudicator Andrew Glass to feast his eyes on the mighty sushi roll, Lynn and Nick garnished it to perfection by creating a pattern around its centre using more cucumbers.
"This thing is going to look as good as its going to taste," said Lynn.
"You could fit one hundred Lynja’s in this thing."
The record to beat, which was set by Daniel Ramirez (Chile), was 2.10 metres (6 feet 6.88 inches).
With their roll measuring 0.06 metres larger, Nick and Lynn took a bite out of the previous record for the largest sushi roll (width), becoming the newest title holders.
But what is a small team supposed to do with over three thousand pounds of fresh sushi?
Nick said none of it would go to waste.
“This entire sushi roll will now be picked up by my teammates at Farmlink and donated to a homeless shelter in Boston.” – Nick DiGiovanni
The TikTok stars aren’t new to record breaking or creating larger than life food items.
They also hold record titles for:
- Largest cake pop – 44.24 kg (97 Ib 8.52 oz)
- Largest chicken nugget – 20.96 kg (46 Ib 3.34 oz)
- Most fast food restaurants visited in 24 hours – 69 restaurants in 7 hours and 15 minutes
Nick plans to achieve additional record titles and hopes to cover his entire studio in certificates on his quest to break the most food related records ever!
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