Fortune cookie
Type | Cookie (wafer[1]) |
---|---|
Place of origin | Japan
United States |
Main ingredients | Flour, sugar, vanilla, and oil |
A fortune cookie is a crisp and sugary
Translations of the name
Globally, the cookies are generally called by the English term fortune cookies, being American in origin.
There is no single accepted Chinese name for the cookies, with a large variety of translations being used to describe them in the
History
As far back as the 19th century, a cookie very similar in appearance to the modern fortune cookie was made in
David Jung, founder of the Hong Kong Noodle Company in Los Angeles, has made a competing claim that he invented the cookie in 1918.[7] San Francisco's Court of Historical Review attempted to settle the dispute in 1983. During the proceedings, a fortune cookie was introduced as a piece of evidence with a message reading, "S.F. Judge who rules for L.A. Not Very Smart Cookie". A federal judge of the Court of Historical Review, from San Francisco themselves, determined that the cookie originated with Hagiwara and the court ruled in favor of San Francisco. Subsequently, the city of Los Angeles condemned the decision.[7]
Seiichi Kito, the founder of Fugetsu-do of
Up to around World War II, fortune cookies were known as "fortune tea cakes"—likely reflecting their origins in Japanese tea cakes.[2]
Fortune cookies moved from being a confection dominated by Japanese-Americans to one dominated by Chinese-Americans sometime around World War II. One theory for why this occurred is because of the
Fortune cookies before the early 20th century were all made by hand. The fortune cookie industry changed dramatically after the fortune cookie machine was invented by Edward Louie in the late 1960s.[9] The machine allowed for mass production of fortune cookies which subsequently allowed the cookies to drop in price to become the novelty and courtesy dessert many Americans are familiar with after their meals at most Chinese restaurants today.
Manufacturers
There are approximately 3 billion fortune cookies made each year globally, the majority of them consumed in the US.
Manufacturing processes vary, but they generally follow the same procedure. The ingredients (typically made with a base of
Marketing
The message inside may include a list of lucky numbers used by some as lottery numbers; since relatively few distinct messages are printed, in the recorded case where winning numbers happened to be printed, the lottery had an unexpectedly high number of winners sharing a prize.[11] Authorities briefly investigated Wonton Food in 2005, after 110 Powerball lottery players won about $19 million after using the "lucky numbers" on the back of fortunes.[12][13]
Fortune cookies are sometimes used for special marketing promotions. For example, the film Kung Fu Panda 3 was promoted by putting quotations from the protagonist of the film on fortune cookie slips.[14]
In 1989, fortune cookies were reportedly imported into Hong Kong and sold as "genuine American fortune cookies".[15] Wonton Food attempted to expand its fortune cookie business into China in 1992, but gave up after fortune cookies were considered "too American".[15]
Nutrition
Cookies from different manufacturers have different ingredients and nutritional content. One cookie typically contains around 80 to 130 kilojoules (20 to 30 kilocalories) of food energy and 5–7 g of total carbohydrates. A cookie may have sugar varying from 0–3 g, between 2–8 mg of sodium, and may have significant (compared to their size) amounts of iron or protein. The small size means they have little overall nutritional value.[16][17][18][19]
Around the world
Fortune cookies, while largely an American item, have been served in Chinese restaurants in Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates as well as other countries.[2] In Peru, they are served in the chifas, Chinese-Peruvian fusion food restaurants.[citation needed]
There are also multi-cultural versions of the fortune cookie. For instance, the Mexican version of the fortune cookie, called the "Lucky Taco", is a red taco-shaped cookie with a fortune inside.[20] The same company that makes the Lucky Taco also makes a "Lucky Cannoli", inspired by Italian cannolis.[20]
See also
- Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Company
- List of American foods
- Aleuromancy
- Barquillo
- Kuih kapit
- Shortbread, a similar cookie made with butter instead of sesame oil
Notes
- ISBN 978-0-19-931339-6.
- ^ a b c d e Lee, Jennifer (January 16, 2008). "Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a Mystery Inside a Cookie". The New York Times. Retrieved May 10, 2012.
- ^ Lee, Jennifer 8. (January 16, 2008). "Fortune Cookies are really from Japan". The Fortune Cookie Chronicles website. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Nagata, Erik. "A Brief History of The Fortune Cookie". Archived from the original on August 20, 2008.
- ^ Ono, Gary (October 31, 2007). "Japanese American Fortune Cookie: A Taste of Fame or Fortune -- Part II". Archived from the original on April 4, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2008.
- ^ (Martin 2004)
- ^ a b (Brunner 2005).
- ^ "History of Fugetsu-Do". www.fugetsu-do.com. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- ^ "Edward Louie, 69, Inventor of Fortune-Cookie Machine". Chicago Tribune.
- ^ Bratskeir, Kate (September 2, 2014). "This Is How Fortune Cookies Are Made". Huffington Post. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
- ^ "Lottery Numbers from Fortune Cookie". Snopes. January 11, 2010. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- ^ Jennifer Lee (May 12, 2005). "Who Needs Giacomo? Bet on the Fortune Cookie". The New York Times. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ Oliver B. Waxman (January 27, 2017). "Go Behind the Scenes as Fortune Cookie History Gets Made". Time. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
- ^ "Kung Fu Panda 3 Fortune Cookies – Fortune Cookie Advertising". Fortune Cookie Advertising. December 5, 2015. Archived from the original on April 10, 2017. Retrieved April 10, 2017.
- ^ a b "Origin of Fortune Cookies". Snopes. June 9, 2008. Retrieved May 30, 2017.
- ^ "Fortune Cookies | Desserts". www.pandaexpress.com.
- ^ "Calories in Pf Chang Chinese Fortune Cookie – Calories and Nutrition Facts". www.myfitnesspal.com.
- ^ "Calories in Pei Wei Fortune Cookie – Calories and Nutrition Facts | MyFitnessPal.com". www.myfitnesspal.com. Archived from the original on July 30, 2018. Retrieved December 21, 2018.
- ^ "Calories in Golden Bowl Fortune Cookies – Calories and Nutrition Facts". www.myfitnesspal.com.
- ^ a b "Re-racializing the fortune cookie… again – Sociological Images". thesocietypages.org. Retrieved April 6, 2017.
References
- Martin, James (2004), "Fortune Cookies: A San Francisco Invention", About.com, archived from the original on August 18, 2004, retrieved August 11, 2004.
- Brunner, Borgna (2005), "The History of the Fortune Cookie", Infoplease, retrieved May 10, 2005
- ISBN 978-0-446-58007-6.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link - Parvin, Ellie (1995), "Fortune cookie US invention", Golden Gater, archived from the original on April 27, 2006, retrieved May 24, 2006.
External links
- Cookie Master – Article detailing the job of a cookie fortunes writer
- A Brief History of The Fortune Cookie – An account by Erik S. Nagata, the great, great-grandson of Makoto Hagiwara