FOTD: Where did the fortune cookie originate?
Published on March 24, 2011 by wbgene · No Comments
While the origin of the fortune cookie can be debated the widestly accepted explanation is as follows.
A Japanese immigrant named Makoto Hagiwara invented them in 1914 in San Francisco, California. He also designed the Japanese Tea Garden in the Golden Gate Park. There was an anti-Japanese mayor who wound up firing Hagiwara. He was then rehired when a new mayor came into office. To thank those that had stuck by him during the hardships of his unemployment he created a cookie which contained a thank you note.
They became rather popular among those who got them. Then at the 1915 World’s Fair in San Francisco they were introduced to the world.
There is a story that explains how during the Mongols occupation of China during the 13th and 14th centuries. When it came time for a revolution the Chinese took a Moon Cake which Mongols did not like at all and replace the Lotus Paste yolk on the inside with a rice paper message. The messages let everyone know when the uprising would begin. After the successful revolution the Ming Dynasty began. Again, we don’t know how true this story is or if it had any inspiration into the creation of fortune cookies centuries later.
Trivia Tidbit: Apparently the fortune cookie was not introduced to China until the 1990′s. They were billed as “Genuine American Fortune Cookies.”
