Following the Fortune Cookie

By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, March 11, 2008.

It’s hard to imagine finishing a meal of beef with broccoli or crab rangoon without a fortune cookie. It’s like the period at the end of a delicious sentence.

But would you believe, the fortune cookie actually orginated in Japan? They were folded by hand in San Francisco factories and later exported to China, along with the Fold-Pak take-out container, to Chinese customers who’d seen such oddities on American TV shows like Seinfeld.

That’s one of the twisted mysteries of Chinese-American food exchange that’s cracked open by New York Times metro reporter Jennifer 8. Lee. Her new book, "The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food" began in 2005, when an improbable number of people won Powerball after playing the lucky number from Chinese fortune cookie fortunes.

Lee, who was born in the United States to Chinese immigrant parents, traced the path of those cookies and uncovered a fascinating history of food and family, and she joined Virginia on Word of Mouth to talk about it.

(Photo by Jessica Wilson)

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Idea Smackdown: Round III

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.