They are crunchy, small, folded, and light brown in color (colour).
They usually come in individual, plastic packets. They don't fill
you up, but they are an important part of certain meals. They
hold a different promise for each person at the table. And,
finally, they have an Asian touch about them. So, what are they?
They are fortune cookies, of course. No Asian style meal would be
complete without them, at least, from a Westerner's perspective.
I'm sure there are a lot of Asian meals that should never have
fortune cookies at the end; you'll just have to forgive my
ignorance. The cookies are, afterall, an Asian American invention
that started around the beginning of the 20th century. Apparently,
Asian immigrants, probably Japanese or Chinese, started to
manufacture them in California. A cookie that they might have been
copying is the omikuji cookie of Kyoto, Japan which was a temple
cookie filled with random fortunes. It sounds similar. Well, they
certainly are popular over here. Though they are normally served
after a chinese meal, they can also be found in Japanese
restaurants, and Asian-American restaurants. Children get excited
by the idea of a special cookie at the end of the meal, especially
one that they can break open to find a message inside. "This week,
a special person will come into your life," one might say, or, "Use
your good judgment to make your fortune this year." My children
always imagine ways the prediction might come true; they get
imaginative, and even ridiculous. We end up giggling at the end of
our meal because of the fortune cookies and their 'off-the-wall'
predictions.
Grammar notes.
Expressions: to fill up/ to get filled up, to
giggle, off-the-wall.
1. We filled up the car with gas (petrol). OR That
chocolate cake will really fill you up.
2. The children got over excited at the birthday party and wouldn't
stop giggling.
3. That entertainer does the strangest things; he is really
off-the-wall.