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The fortune cookie depicted in popular culture is synonymous with Chinese restaurant settings, or television family and friends huddled around a coffee table laden with takeaway boxes. Cut to the end of the meal, the characters take turns snapping the cookies in two to reveal the slip – the fortune – reading aloud cryptic messages, a vague prophecy, or a statement of fact. Sometimes these slips are accompanied by a set of ‘lucky' numbers.
The truth is, the fortune cookie in its current form remains unknown to most Chinese citizens and you won’t find it served at restaurants in China. So, where did it come from?
The origin of the fortune cookie varies depending on who you ask. The connection to the Lazy Susan-topped banquet table would assume that the cookie has Chinese origins, albeit at home, far away in the West. They were first brought to San Francisco by Japanese immigrants in the 19th and 20th century, but manufacturing soon became dominated by Chinese-run businesses before the sweet gained widespread popularity. Allegedly this was caused by mass imprisonment of Japanese migrants US west coast throughout WWII.
The cookie's lineage can be traced back to 19th century Kyoto where a cookie bearing the same likeness and message-bearing attributes can be linked to a local delicacy called the omikuji. The cookie is slightly larger and darker compared to its American-counterpart due to the incorporation of miso, in place of vanilla and butter. Versions of this cookie can still be found at the Fushimi Inari-taisha shrine in Kyoto today.
The cookie's lineage can be traced back to 19th century Kyoto
Closer to home, Fortune Cookies Pty Ltd, have been supplying their original vanilla-flavoured cookies across Australia and New Zealand for close to 40 years. The shape of the cookie was inspired by the Chinese yuanbao, a small metal ingot used in place of money, and a symbol for wealth.
Restaurants make up only a portion of Fortune Cookies Pty Ltd’s customers with distribution ranging from major supermarkets, Asian grocery stores, and department stores. Custom orders come via airlines, hotels, breweries, schools and universities, not to mention once-off orders for events like weddings, and marriage proposals.
Fortune cookies are often sold individually wrapped as an after-dinner treat. Source: PxHere
“Our largest order was for the grand opening of an airline where we successfully filled an order of one million fortune cookies,” says a spokesperson from the company, who prefers to remain unnamed.
Beyond the customised fortune messages, the Fortune Cookies Pty Ltd team have been tasked with encasing engagement rings and prize-winning message slips.
“We had a prize message worth a large sum of money inserted into one of our cookies. The amount was so substantial that the fortune cookie was escorted by security guards,” a team member recalls.
Our largest order was for the grand opening of an airline where we successfully filled an order of one million fortune cookies,
As with cultural trends and growing demand, the custom flavour range has expanded from vanilla to include 14 cookie flavours including taro, banana and mango. As for savoury, barbecue flavoured cookies also make the list.
A range of other small businesses also offer custom designed and chocolate-dipped exteriors to coincide with themes and trends.
Fortune cookies may have fallen out of favour as an after-dinner mainstay, but this hasn’t stopped our appetite for the message-toting treats.
