Tasty monument bests record

Theresia Sufa, The Jakarta Post, Bogor

Because of its association with taro, the rainy town of Bogor involved its taro delicacy producers in an event on Tuesday, as part of the commemoration of the municipality's 523rd anniversary that fell on June 3.

Over 11,000 packs of taro taffy -- provided by the Association of Indonesian Businesswomen (IWAPI) and the association of women producing taro delicacies and taffy -- was piled up to form a replica of Bogor's landmark Kujang Monument (see photo).

The monument, at 5.23 meters, was recorded as the world's tallest taro taffy by the Indonesian Museum of Records (MURI).

"This taffy monument is the tallest, most unique and most useful," said MURI chairman Jaya Suprana, who attended the event accompanied by Bogor mayor Diani Budiarto.

The monument beat the old record set on Sept. 23, 2004 of 3.3 meters high and 2 meters in width, and formed into the shape of the Kudus Mosque tower in Central Java.

The initiator, Jacky Wijaya, said that the women used 200 kilograms of taro and 18 kg of rice flour to make the taffy.

At least 20 women from the home industry and IWAPI were involved in the project.

"We decided to carry out the project because both the Kujang Monument and taro made a name for Bogor," Jacky said.

One of the taffy makers, Wati Haryatni, expressed the hope that the project would strengthen the image of Bogor as a taro producer.

"It's hard to sell taro taffy these days, because consumers think Rp 50,000 (US$5.30) per kilogram is too expensive. Most buyers come from out of town, including university students who want to bring gifts to their families back home in Semarang or Lampung," she added.