Everyone has heard about fortune cookies. It is a small, scrunchy cookie served with dessert. Its special feature is a small piece of paper with a prediction hidden inside the cookie. Most Americans will be surprised to learn that this invention is not actually Chinese but originates from California. I-los-angeles will tell you more about it.
American invention from California: a review of legends
The mysterious origin of fortune cookies is surrounded by numerous speculations and theories, focusing on the city where they were made and the author of this idea.
Interestingly, a fake trial was held in 1983 to discover the origin of fortune cookies. Here are a few legends that allow us to delve deeper into the issue.
- The first legend is about Chinese immigrant David Jung, who lived in Los Angeles. He founded the Hong Kong Noodle Company and invented a fortune cookie in 1918. Motivated by his concern for the poor people wandering near his store, David Jung created cookies and handed them out. There was a strip of paper with an uplifting Biblical passage inside the cookie. According to legend, a Presbyterian priest wrote these lines to the Los Angeles inventor.
- The next legend suggests that Japanese immigrant Makoto Hagiwara from San Francisco was the one who came up with the idea of the cookie. He was the designer of the famous Japanese Tea Garden at Golden Gate Park. He loved his work, but the city mayor fired him. A new city head reinstated Hagiwara in his position. The story says that the man created the fortune cookie in 1914 as a sign of gratitude and appreciation to friends who remained supportive during hard times. He made a cookie with a thank you note inside and treated all his buddies with these cookies. Later, he began regularly serving fortune cookies in the Japanese Tea Garden. The following year (1915), Hagiwara’s invention was presented at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco.
- Another theory states that this dessert was created around the 1930s by one of the workers at the Kay Heong Noodle Factory in San Francisco. A flat cookie contained a small piece of paper with a handwritten prediction or a snippet of Chinese wisdom. This creation was prompted by the desire to develop tourism. It should be reminded that, in the early 1900s, San Francisco’s Chinatown gradually transformed from a ghetto into a tourist destination. Advertisements of Chinese decorations, beauty and architecture could be found very often. Fortune cookies were also used to attract more tourists by drawing their attention to this unusual dessert.
- The following legend relates to the traditional holiday of the Chinese people, the Mid-Autumn Festival. One of the festival’s customs involves distributing cakes with proverbs in them. According to legend, Chinese workers wanted to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival while they were building a railroad through the Sierra Nevada to California. However, they did not have traditional desserts, so they started experimenting and added predictions to cookies.
It is hard to tell which legend is true, but it is interesting that California became the home of this invention.
Fortune Cookies: reasons for popularity
Here are some of the main reasons:
- they are fun and amusing because no one knows what prediction to expect
- the predictions can be inspiring and serious, making you reflect on your life and goals
- it is a reasonable and practical gift option that will please anyone.
Fortune cookies are incredibly popular. They are sold not only in Chinese restaurants but also in supermarkets or candy stores. Movies and popular TV series, including Friends, How I Met Your Mother, The Simpsons and many others, keep showing this dessert.
Fancy Fortune Cookies
After World War II, cookies with predictions became increasingly popular. American people liked visiting Chinese restaurants to try the treats. The first predictions traditionally contained biblical excerpts, aphorisms of Confucius, Ben Franklin and so on. Later, jokes or wise (or humorous) advice began to be added to the cookies.
In 1988, Mike Fry founded the Fancy Fortune Cookies company, which became famous for the concept of fortune cookies that differed in various colors and flavors. The range of flavors and number of fans have only grown since the first bakery of gourmet cookies was opened. For example, there are fortune cookies dipped in milk, white or dark chocolate.
Modern business owners and creators of interesting projects use fortune cookies to promote their businesses.
