North Seattle Herald-Outlook has written a story about the upcoming 2nd coming of Toddish McWong to Seattle.  Last year we staged a Gung Haggis Fat Choy Robbie Burns Chinese New Year Dinner on Chinese New Year Day in Seattle.  It was a benefit for the Pacific North West Junior Pipe Band. 

Check out my blog report from Gung Haggis Seattle 2007

Gung Haggis Fat Choy!
Feb. 24 event to mark Chinese New Year, Scottish Burns Night

 By Elizabeth Mortenson America has imported its fair share of entertaining goods from Canada, including, but not limited to Celine Dion, hockey and Crown Royal whisky.

However, it's possible the strangest thing borrowed from our neighbors lately is Gung Haggis Fat Choy, the Scottish/Chinese celebration being put on by The Caledonian & St. Andrew's Society of Seattle on Feb. 24.

And if you're thinking to yourself, 'That sounds like a bizarre combination,' you're not alone.

"It's weird - it's totally weird," said creator Todd Wong. Started by Wong as a dinner between friends to celebrate the Chinese New Year and the Scots' Burns Night, the event is now a 400-seat extravaganza in Vancouver, B.C., entering its 10th year.

After a decade and repeated exposure to this odd idea through the media, this cross-cultural experiment has gained some acceptance.

A CROSS-CULTURAL CELEBRATION

In 1998, Wong, a Chinese Canadian, was planning a celebratory dinner for the Chinese New Year. Burns Night happened to fall only two days away from the new year, so he merged them. With this unusual but interesting choice, he became "Toddish McWong."

Burns Night is a traditional holiday in Scotland held to honor the poet and national icon Robert Burns, the man who wrote the ubiquitous-on-New-Year's-Eve "Auld Lang Syne." Celebrated every Jan. 25, the night assumed to be his birthday, Scots hold suppers where people eat, honor his life and read poetry.

The festivals are held around the world, but the haggis-dim sum derivation is McWong's particular hybrid.

Everything from the food to the dress is an intermixing of the two cultures - even the name of the festival. During the Chinese New Year people often say "Gung Hei Fat Choy" to each other, which translates roughly from Cantonese (a Chinese dialect) into English as "Congratulations and be prosperous.

"Haggis is the national dish of Scotland and a perennial favorite at Burns Suppers. "It's like a giant hot dog. It's sheep stomach filled with chopped-up liver, kidneys, spices, oatmeal, and then you boil it," described Diana Smith, entertainment director for the St. Andrew's Society. She added that it was like a "meat pudding" - probably one of the nicer things it's been called.

So "Hei" was replaced with "Haggis," and Gung Haggis Fat Choy came into being.

"I think the Scottish people come to eat the Chinese food, and the Chinese people come for the bagpipes," Wong said.

SPREADING THE WORD

The idea of holding a Gung Haggis Fat Choy event in Seattle was Bill McFadden's, president of the local Caledonian Society in 2007.

According to Smith, their Seattle celebration last year had few Chinese people in attendance. Wong estimates there were four Scots to each Chinese person in attendance in Vancouver.

This disparity could be due to the fact that these events are sponsored by Caledonian Societies, whose purpose is to promote Scottish awareness, are subsequently predominately Scottish in membership. However, all are welcome and invited to attend.

"This year we're trying to get the word out; I've contacted the Asian publications, so we're hoping to have more of the Chinese element.... We'll see what happens," Smith said.

At this year's celebration in Seattle, the Washington Chinese Youth Orchestra and Northwest Junior Pipe Band will perform for the anticipated 200 to 250 guests (150 people attended last year's event). Wong, himself, will be there to emcee the event. "It's gonna be a blast," he said.

GUNG HAGGIS FAT CHOY
Sunday, Feb. 24, 5-9 p.m.
Ocean City Restaurant
609 S. Weller St., Chinatown
Tickets $35
Diana Smith, 523-2618