'Timun suri' -- Greater Jakarta's specialty

By Ati Nurbaiti

JAKARTA (JP): Each region of Indonesia has a specialty cooked mostly in the fasting month. One of the refreshments specific to Greater Jakarta is a large cucumber called the timun suri (cucumis sativus).

Along with another pumpkin-like fruit, blewah, the yellow cucumber is only found along streets and in markets during the fasting month.

In comparison to other fruits planted round the city, timun suri is the only one suitable for refreshments which can be planted year round.

Because Ramadhan falls a month earlier each year according to the solar calendar, farmers plant the cucumbers two months earlier each year -- 64 days to be precise, a farmer, Ondo said. Ondo succeeded in arranging planting time so that the first harvest landed on consumers' tables on the first fasting day, Jan. 10. "That was Friday," Ondo remembers.

The cucumber's white, soft meat is cut into small pieces and mixed with ice and sugar or syrup.

"Even those who grow it don't become fed up with it," said Ondo, a farmer in the Kemang district of Bogor.

A vendor in South Jakarta also said she enjoys the fruit every day. "It cools the stomach," Djami, the vendor said.

Ondo is one of several farmers who grow the cucumbers in their fields, usually planted along with spinach and swamp vegetables, kangkung.

Other farmers are in nearby areas along Jl. Raya Parung, where vendors hope motorists from Jakarta will stop by. Along with timun suri, they display known specialities of the area -- a kind of sweet potato (talas), durian and the decreasing number of weaved handicrafts.

Areas where timun suri are planted are also decreasing, as developers buy up cheap land.

Ondo has about 20 fields and recently harvested of nearly 1,000 cucumbers. His was one of the largest crops, compared to other farmers who said they had planted only two fields.

Ondo, aged around 50, and his wife Mina, 47, are proud of their crop. Ondo said the cucumbers are relatively easy to grow -- "even a child could do it," he said -- though his neighbors' crops have not proved as fertile as his.

The cucumbers bring Ondo more revenue than his papaya and vegetables; the farmer said he invested Rp 200,000 and gained Rp 1 million.

A wholesaler buys the cucumbers at Rp 600 per kilogram. At markets in Jakarta they sell for up to Rp 2,500 for a two- kilogram cucumber.

The farmers believe this is a fair price, justified by transportation costs borne by the tengkulak, the wholesaler.

The Rp 1 million income comes only once a year, as consumers do not seek timun suri outside Ramadhan.

And what dishes does Ondo make from the vegetables?

"We farmers say the spinach and kangkung are just for kitchen needs," his wife Mina said. "It's a headache to think about it," Ondo said.

The vegetables are nevertheless essential for daily needs, as they are in need all year round, and yield the quickest harvest. For every crop each 18 days Ondo and Mina get around Rp 25,000.

There is additional income from the papaya and sale of cassava leaves to feed the family of seven and five men working on the fields.

Despite increasing offers, Ondo and Mina say they will not sell the land.

"We had difficult times saving to buy the land. Often we only ate once a day," Mina said, holding a cucumber and recalling the early years in their marriage.

The only asset they decided to sell was their three buffaloes, priced at Rp 4 million in all. The buffaloes, eight tons of papaya and various other items contributed to the down payment of a Suzuki van for their son's transportation business.

"Besides, where would you bathe the buffaloes?" said Zakaria, Ondo's friend. "All the land is for housing now," he added.

Although counting profits from farming nowadays may be a headache, at least the couple say they are well experienced in managing their vegetable and papaya crops.

And once a year, there is always the timun suri harvests to supply city people, which enables Ondo and his family to celebrate Idul Fitri.