That is a carica. Have you ever heard it? This fruit only grow in a place with 2000 m above the sea level, and only seen in Dieng Plateau Area and Brazil. There is a story about this fruit, a carica seed which plant not in plateau will grow as a papaya, and if a papaya seed plant in Dieng Plateau will grown as a carica.This fruit has a scientific name Carica pubescens or Carica candamarcensis, and known as “gandul Dieng” or Mountain Papaya. The different between this two fruit is a papaya well grown as tropical plants which need lot sunshine, in contrary a carica only well grown in plateau with a low temperature and a lot of rain. That is a Dieng Plateau Area climate. This fruit is easy to grow and can be planted with another crops. This fruit also not a seasonal plant so this fruit not damage the land.
The carica have a long age, until 20 year or more. After 1 year planted, it can be harvest, and resulted good fruit. If the quality is decreased, the farmer cut that tree so it will produce a new bud. The fruit is like papaya, but smaller in size. The carica is also can’t eat directionally, because they contain a sap, so the taste is quite bitter. We can enjoy this fruit by cut it half and take the stone of fruit or they seed. This seed is an important material of carica syrup making. This carica also used as a sweet drink, a candy, jelly, and jam material, or as an addition in curry.
The example product of carica is carica in syrup, carica juice, carica syrup, carica jam, and carica candy. This product is a special product from Dieng and always searched by a tourist as a gift. The price of carica in syrup is ± Rp.10.000 (1US$=±Rp. 8.500) per bottle. The tastes are rubbery, sweet, and delicious, and also have a special aroma sell. If you eat it in Dieng, you can drink it immediately, but if you take it home you can add some ice on it. Enjoy!
