Wednesday, February 8, 2012

  Longest Lontong: Indonesia sets world record (Video)

JAKARTA, Indonesia-- The Indonesian government celebrates the end of the Chinese New Year by rolling out an Indonesian-style rice cake typically eaten during Lunar New Year celebrations: a Lontong measuring 495 feet (150.87 meters) in length and 4 inches in diameter - which sets the world record for Longest Lontong, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).

  Photo: Visitors look at the World's Longest Longtong (rice cake) with a diameter of 35 centimeters and a length of 2.75 meters at a culinary festival in Pecenongan, Central Jakarta, on Saturday. Photo: R. Berto Wedhatama ( enlarge photo )

The Guinness world record for the tallest cooked sugar sculpture measures 3.91 m (12 ft 10.4 in) and was made by Alain Roby (France) at Mall of America, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA .

Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the longest sandwich; it measured 634.50 m (2,081 ft) and was created by Pietro Catucci and Antonio Latte of EuroSpin in Mottola, Taranto, Italy.

 It took 20 government staff three days, 550 pounds of rice and 220 pounds of banana leaves to make this record-breaking Lontong.

  Coming in at 495 feet in length and 4 inches in diameter, the Lontong is the dish of honor at the Cap Go Meh Festival, marking the last day of the Chinese New Year.

  Chinese New Year is widely celebrated in Indonesia, where ethnic Chinese make up three percent of the country's population.

  The Governor of Jakarta, Fauzi Bowo, took part in the event and made the honorary first cut of the world's longest Lontong.

  Fauzi Bowo, Governor of Jakarta:   "Chinese New Year and Cap Go Meh is a part of Chinese ethnic traditions who live in Jakarta, and it is our duty to appreciate it. Other ethnics are also required to appreciate it and make this tradition to be our city's wealth. I think it's our city's wealth and pride, hopefully this harmony can continue to become the characteristic of Jakarta city now and in the future."

  J. Ngadri, Indonesian World Record Museum: "There is something special today. This is a present from the Jakarta city government for people of Chinese ethnicity. This is a reflection of togetherness among Indonesian citizens."

  After the ceremony, the Lontong was sliced up and the public gets a taste of history in the making.