cirebon cullinary 
Tjampolay syrup is a traditional syrup that was built around 1936, one of the oldest flavored drinks in Indonesia. Tan Tjek Tiu, a Chinese resident of Cirebon, was the first person to discover the Tjampolay fruit. This fruit has a taste that is suitable for making drinks. He took the initiative to create syrup based on the long yellow Tjampolay (Dutch sapodilla) fruit with the sour taste of real fruit. This fruit grows a lot in the lowlands like the city of Cirebon, and since then he has developed ideas and been creative in creating his syrups.
Syrup factory
The success of Tjampolay syrup soared rapidly on the market and was popular with many people. But not long after that, the production stopped due to some reasons. In 1970, Setiawan, the son, took over the production. But after just a few months, the family industry closed again because it could no longer compete with the much cheaper Orson and Lemonade syrups. In 1980, the factory was moved to the Lawangada, Prasaren, Pekalipan, and Cirebon areas. Syrup production stopped for a long time, around 4 years. Then, his son, Setiawan continued the bussiness. The use of a simple paper design is characteristic of Tjampolay fruit, while the syrup packaging uses glass bottles with writing that still uses the old font.
Syrup production
The development of flavors started from just one flavor, banana milk. Now, it has many flavor variants, such as mango and lecy. Tjampolay syrup production continues to grow to this day. It is still popular with many people and is one of the souvenirs that must be brought when visiting Cirebon. Not only that, now Tjampolay syrup has become one of the basic complementary ingredients in drinks. Adding Tjampolay syrup not only adds flavor to the drink but also makes the appearance of the drink more beautiful. Apart from that, Tjampolay syrup gained several awards ranging from the first product by the general public to the ‘Bintang 1’ Award for Industrial Conformity Standardization by the Directorate General of Pharmaceutical and Food Supervision.
This article is written by Roi Hatul Zanna
