Next time you have a party, consider giving out homemade fortune cookies. Your guests will love them! This Sunbeam kitchen accessory is easy to use and easy to clean. It comes with a fortune cookie recipe, makes two cookies at a time and translates into family fun because adults and children can participate in the cookie adventure!
Chinese Fortune Cookie.
~ How did it come to US?
~ By way of legend, history, tradition?
~ Is it Chinese or American?
Popular comedian Margaret Cho tells a joke about the TV series Kung Fu starring David Carradine. She says the show should have been called: 'That guy's not Chinese!' You get no argument from me on that, Ms. Cho. Another fascinating tidbit that was shocking for me to discover was that Chinese fortune cookies are also not Chinese. They're American!
Well that's what I heard, and never thought to dispute it as true fact until recently learning that there are different stories about the cookie's origin. Some stories credit Asian immigrants living in California with the invention - individual Asian-Americans, acting on their own initiative; or the group mentioned in a Charlie Brown cartoon that built the railroad, acting together. Whoever!
Then there's another account that says it dates back to the time when China was ruled by the Mongols, about the 13th or 14th century. Supposedly rebels ... I mean, patriots ... had to come up with a way to communicate their battle plans with each other without being exposed and executed by the Mongol ruler, so they would bake cakes and put secret messages inside. Clever!
Clever, but not believable. Sherlock Holmes would no doubt agree with this deduction. Would you not think that if the Chinese fortune cookie originated as a Chinese invention that resulted from the brave and heroic efforts of Chinese patriots, the citizens of China would have incorporated it into their history, legends, traditions, and celebrations?
Ha! It's elementary! Chinese fortune cookies are passed out at Chinese-American restaurants. I watch a lot of Kung Fu movies and whenever they eat at restaurants you never see the waiter pass out a cookie! Brilliant deduction, eh? :)
Maybe that's true. Maybe not. But the truth remains the Chinese fortune cookie has been an American tradition for a very long time and to whoever deserves credit for it, it's a wonderful idea!
Always encouraging people that good fortune is never far from any of us and easily within our reach. That's marvelous motivation to keep on, keeping on! Don't you agree?
Whether the tradition is Chinese or American, fact is we can all write our own fortunes.
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