Fortune Cookie

Classic Foods and Cocktails Invented in the San Francisco Bay Area | Eater SF

"Though a couple of Los Angeles bakers have tried to claim credit for creating the fortune cookie, food historians agree that the most reliable origin story comes from San Francisco. The reason is this: A very similar looking cookie existed in Japan dating back to the 19th century, though it was a savory variety flavored with miso, and there is also a tradition in Japan called omikuji in which random fortunes are written on slips of paper. Japanese immigrant Makoto Hagiwara, who opened San Francisco’s Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park in 1894, is said to have ordered the sweet, folded cookies from San Francisco confectioner Benkyodo (which is still open in Japantown) in 1918, so they could be served at the tea garden. The move into Chinese restaurants came during World War II, when most of SF’s Japanese-Americans were put in internment camps. The Smithsonian says that Chinese businessmen then took the opportunity to copy the recipe and market the cookies to Chinese restaurants, and the rest is history. You’ll find them almost anywhere in Chinatown, but look out for the small, delicious-smelling Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory." - Jay C. Barmann