My aunt who reads my blog and saw the entry about Sophia’s dream to open a cafe and bakery, suggested that the cafe and bakery could be named “Good Fortune.”  This brought up a very interesting subject as the word, “Fortune” was mentioned.

Well, I have to break the news.  Fortune cookies are rare in China!   It was invented in the US.  I’m not joking!

I asked Sophia about eating fortune cookies several months ago and she said, “huh?”  I told her that it’s a Chinese cookie and that she had to know what it was and it’s served in all Chinese restaurants.  She said, “No…” I pulled out my iPhone and showed her pictures of the cookie from the Google search and she said that she has never seen that thing before and laughed and said it’s obviously an American invention.  Well…well…I have a lot to learn about the Chinese culture.

After having done some sleuthing to find out from where the fortune cookie exactly originated, I found that, according a New York Times article,  “The Japanese may have invented the fortune cookie. But the Chinese people really explored the potential of the fortune cookie. It’s Chinese-American culture. It only happens [in the US], not in China.”  According the article, the popularity of the fortune cookie began in the early 20th century by Chinese immigrants living in the US.  Fascinating.