Fortune cookies, a popular dessert in Chinese restaurants, were actually invented in America. The history of their invention is debated, with claims from both San Francisco and Los Angeles. They have evolved to include different flavors and fortunes, and are now used as party favors, including at weddings.
Anyone who has been to a Chinese restaurant has had, or at least seen, fortune cookies. These almond or vanilla treats not only taste great, they also boast a surprise inside: a small slip of paper with a prediction or saying printed on it. You might guess these cookies are steeped in centuries of tradition, but you couldn’t be more wrong. As with most Chinese takeout foods as we know them, they were invented in America not too long ago.
The history of fortune cookies is hotly debated. One story has it that cookies were invented in San Francisco around 1914. A chef named Mikoto Hagiwata handed out cookies to strollers in his Japanese tea gardens in Golden Gate Park. Each cookie contained a small note saying “Thank you.” At the 1915 San Francisco World’s Fair, Hagiwata passed on his treats, thus introducing fortune cookies to the world.
However, Hagiwata isn’t the only one who invented fortune cookies. David Jung, owner of the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles, also lists the invention of fortune cookies as his claim to fame. Jung stated that he baked cookies in 1918 as an encouraging treat for the unemployed and unfortunately people walking the streets looking for work.
Regardless of who actually invented them, Chinese Americans saw a purpose in them. Since Americans generally ate dessert after a meal, Chinese restaurants have started offering fortune cookies after dinner. They soon became part of a traditional Chinese-American meal.
Nowadays, fortune cookies are made in a variety of flavors, including chocolate. They’re not just used for after-dinner desserts in Chinese restaurants. These cookies are now a popular party favor. In fact, they are often used as wedding favors, but instead of a fortune inside the cookie, the bride and groom’s name and wedding date are printed!
Fortunes have also evolved. In addition to the usual fortune and prosperity fortunes, the person who opens a fortune cookie can find lucky numbers and Chinese language lessons.
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