If you know much about Chinese and Japanese cultures and the differences therein, it won't surprise you that
fortune cookies were invented by a
Japanese-American. The simplicity and yet intrigue of the shape is very, very Japanese, as is even the
texture and the mild
flavor meant to accompany
tea. Check out a real
Chinese bakery; you will see nothing remotely resembling a fortune cookie. Fortune cookies were probably invented by a Japanese/Japanese-American person for the
Japanese Tea Garden in
San Francisco and quickly
adapted by savvy
Chinese restauranteurs. As far as I know, no one
really knows who precisely invented it, though a
descendant claims it was
Baron Makoto Hagiwara. (Well, heck, he has a
cool name, so why not.)
I have read several alternate explanations, mostly from
Chinese-American fortune cookie companies, that attempt to link fortune cookies to
moon cakes and
secret messages of
yore. While there is probably some sort of cultural heritage thing going on (as usual) via the Japan-China link, this explanation sounds like a spurious
marketing ploy or a sort of
retcon attempt at
cultural imperialism of sorts. (Usually it's the other way around--Japan has been historically fond of claiming everything from Chinese
festivals to
foods as
indigenous and inventing
histories wholesale to back up the claims.)
Now, this isn't to say there's something wrong with serving FCs in a
Chinese restaraunt. There's a long-standing fascination with any kind of
fortune-telling device in Chinese culture, and the messages one reads on them (when not TOO cheesy as above) are often fairly typical of various Chinese
oracular devices. Plus, they go very well with
jasmine tea.