CHINESE DINNER

Auckland Star, Volume LXXIII, Issue 133, 8 June 1942, Page 3

CHINESE DINNER

Auckland wedding

OVER FOUR HUNDRED GUESTS

What will probably be the last full-course Chinese dinner to be served in Auckland until after the war was given yesterday evening by Mr. Thomas Wong Doo, a prominent Chinese merchant, to some 400 of his fellow countrymen. It was the eve of the marriage of his daughter, Miss Minnie Wong Doo, to Mr. George Yin, which will take place this evening at St. David's Church.

Invitations had been extended to, and accepted by, several Europeans, and among them were a member of Parliament, members of the medical and legal professions, and representatives of business firms in the city.

To the Chinese guests the dinner was merely another celebration, but to the Europeans it was a new experience. There were two sittings for the Chinese, one at 4 p.m. and the second an hour later. A separate dining room had been set apart for the European guests, and they did the best they could with the chopsticks; at times they could be noticed determinedly endeavouring to pick a slippery mushroom or fish bladder from the bowl on the table.

Preparations for the dinner had been going on for months past, and the pigs—there were three of them— had been fed on cooked foods, because pigs thus fed, so the Chinesa say, produce alternate layers of pork and fat, and are more tender than pigs reared and fed on the farm. Yesterday morning the pigs were killed and at once cooked by heat in firebrick ovens. And so it was with the poultry. One hundred chickens, 100 ducks and GO turkeys were spiced and seasoned before being placed in the oven. Cooked, they were then boned and cut into small pieces, because the Chinese serve nothing containing bone. Steamed duck, stuffed with barley and spices, 601b of dried mushrooms imported from China, bowls of Chinese pickle—these were just a few of the items on the menu. Of course there was shark fins soup— a great favourite with the European guests because it could be eaten with spoons; beche de mer (Stea delicacies), giblets and fish bladders were among the most costly dishes, and the inevitable bowl of rice found a place.

Neither pepper nor salt is served on a Chinese fable, nor are there any plates, cups or saucers. With only a pair of chopsticks and a small bowl to work with, yesterday's European guests gave the Chinese a long start, which they were never able to catch up, although they tried hard enough. About two hours were spent over the meal, and afterwards vocal items were rendered. Mr. Leo Chung's singing of "China Shines Again" was a highlight of the evening.

Following the marriage of Miss Doo and Mr. Yin this evening, the wedding breakfast will be held at the reception room of the Farmers' Trading Co.