Confectioners aim for record

Confectioners aim for record

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Twenty-one producers and sellers of a local sweet delicacy of peanuts and palm sugar in Kaliurang hope to make it into The Guinness Book of Records after they demonstrated the making of the first ever 102-meter-long snack.

Known as ampyang (peanut brittle), the extra large snack was processed Sunday from 9 a.m. to 12:30 afternoon. The finished piece was 20 centimeters long and 1.5 centimeters thick.

It was then cut up and sold to onlookers for Rp 20,000 per 50 cm.

Officials of the Semarang-based Indonesian Museum of Records were at the scene to witness the record attempt. They said the feat would be marked as the museum's 345th record breaker.

Organizers Purwo and his wife said in the Kaliurang resort 28 kilometers north of Yogyakarta that up to Rp 5 million was used in the record attempt.

Christian Awuy, a local tourist official said the snack used up to 700 kilograms of peanuts, 500 kilos of palm sugar, 300 kilos of sugar, and 30 kilos of ginger.

Mrs. Purwo told The Jakarta Post and the Bernas local daily that initially they feared the project would fail. "We were worried because producers have different ways of making ampyang, but finally the different techniques could be overcome," she said.

The attraction was designed to promote tourism, which has slumped in the cool resort. Ampyang is usually sold here for up to Rp 4,000 for 10 pieces of the bite-size snack. (23/44)