The Fortune Cookie Chronicles

(A Book Adventure through the Mysteries of Chinese Food)
By Jennifer 8. Lee

Mar 6, 2008

One woman.
One great mystery.
One consuming obsession.
40,000 restaurants.

There are more Chinese restaurants in this country than McDonalds, Burger King and Kentucky Fried Chicken combined.

In The Fortune Cookie Chronicles, author Jennifer 8. Lee takes readers on a remarkable journey that is both foreign and familiar: penetrating this subculture by traveling the world (and almost every American state) in her quest to understand Chinese food and the people who make it.

Her journey took her to the hometown of General Tso (a military hero immortalized as much for crunchy chicken as his conquests), the surprising origins of the fortune cookie (it’s not China), and to six continents in search for the world’s greatest Chinese restaurant. The book also sparks debates as to who really invented chop suey and why Jews love Chinese food, or as she puts it: Why is chow mein the chosen food of the chosen people?

The book is a tribute to immigrants and to America. If our benchmark for Americanness is apple pie, ask yourself, how often do you eat apple pie? Now how often do you eat Chinese food?

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Blog

May 9, 2008

In Denver’s SPJ’s adorable invite

Am in Denver to speak the local chapter of the Society of Professional Journalist (a four star chapter at that). I just saw the invite for the talk and dinner. It’s adorable.... more

Previous blog entries:
May 9	-	Fortune Cookie Chronicles on Local Library Signs
May 9	-	Google knows that Jews love Chinese food?
May 9	-	Proquest, the American Library Association, and Fortune Cookies

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Video

Mar 13, 2008

Introducing Fortune Cookies to China

During my trip to China, I took along boxes of Wonton Food’s fortune cookies and gave them out to Chinese people along the way. This is a compilation of their reactions. (The people here are from Houyu, Kaifeng, Shenzhen and Changsha).

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