Witness the art of fortune-cookie folding

The fortune cookie as we know it came into being in California sometime in the late 1800s or early 1900s, but its origins are not actually Chinese. In fact, the cookie is probably a variation on the Japanese tsujiura senbei, a fortune-stuffed cracker made of unsweetened sesame-miso batter.

To see fortune cookies being made expertly by hand, pay a visit to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in San Francisco’s Chinatown, where the cookies have been mixed, baked, and folded in this tiny shop since 1962.  Feeling inspired? Try making your own with the homemade fortune cookies recipe in The Sunset Cookbook.