Wikipedia saves the day yet again...
The fortune cookie has a bunch of muddled history, but generally, it is understood that it originated in California in the early 20th century. As a fusion between Chinese mooncakes with concealed rice messages (part of a festival celebration) and a similar-type of Japanese cracker, the fortune cookie was born as a new concept that was generated in the United States (fortune cookies made their debut in China by a Brooklyn-based company in 1992).
They originally contained biblical excerpts, or had a tone of spiritual guidance and wisdom to their quotes...they hit the big time after WWII, and became more gimmicky. Because Chinese cuisine does not typically feature dessert, the fortune cookie was a way to help quinch the American need for sweets at the end of a meal.
So, that's all you never wanted to know about the fortune cookie.
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I saw a funny documentary on this topic "The Killing of a Chinese Cookie" Directed by Derek Shimoda and there was something in the Times last year:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/dining/16fort.html?_r=2
Both attribute the provenance to Japan, not China.