# Fortune cookies: delightful treat or throwaway item? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 1, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061 "2014-12-01T20:02:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DCnDC](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dcndc/32/2842_2.png) [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/1 "2014-12-01T20:02:35Z")
Sometimes I’ll eat them, but most of the time I just throw 'em away. What do you do with them? ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/2 "2014-12-01T20:11:45Z")
I crack it open, read the ‘fortune’, rejoice if it actually turns out to be a fortune and not just a proverb or witty saying, and then I eat the cookie. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/3 "2014-12-01T20:13:21Z")
Eat them. At some point when I was younger, it was considered a truism that the fortune won’t count unless you eat the cookie. Although given that my last fortune was, “Catch on fire with excitement and people will come from miles around to watch you burn” I’m not sure I should have eaten the cookie. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/4 "2014-12-01T20:13:39Z")
I don’t like the cookies. It’s one of the very few foods I don’t like. ---
**Author:** ![dracoi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/90db22/32.png) [@dracoi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dracoi)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/5 "2014-12-01T20:18:54Z")
I always eat the cookie. It might be a bit much to call it a “delightful treat” but it has a nice sweetness without being overpowering that seems like a good way to end a meal. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/6 "2014-12-01T20:31:47Z")
I read the fortune out loud, adding “in bed” to the end. Then I’ll eat a bite of it, but usually no more because they always seem to be stale. ---
**Author:** ![DataX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@DataX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DataX)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/7 "2014-12-01T20:49:19Z")
I don’t get why people don’t like them - I think they are delicious. I secretly like going to Chinese restaurants with people that don’t like fortune cookies - as I will always eat them. Probably not much of a secret actually. Yummy ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/8 "2014-12-01T20:49:48Z")
Read but don’t eat and voted as such, would have liked to see the option above for ‘eat but don’t read’. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/9 "2014-12-01T20:52:28Z")
I have found that dunking the cookie in the standard tea they serve makes it actually much much better. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/10 "2014-12-01T20:54:53Z")
They’re not great cookies, but I usually eat them. ---
**Author:** ![Hopeful\_Crow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/da6949/32.png) [@Hopeful\_Crow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hopeful_Crow)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/11 "2014-12-01T21:01:09Z")
I like to eat the cookie before I read the fortune and the way I eat the cookie is by breaking it in half by squeezing the tips together. I eat one half, then the other, then read the fortune. Unless I’m with other people who are all reading their fortunes first. Since I don’t want to explain my silly little tradition, I just go with the flow but it never seems quite right. The big complaint I have with our favorite Chinese restaurant is that their fortune cookies are pretty blah and the fortunes are very generic. The cookie texture is not rock hard like some brands but not melt-in-your-mouth tender like the best ones are. It’s a big bonus if they have a nice almond flavor to them. At our favorite place Pop’s best friend would always tell the waitress, “Good fortune; good tip. Bad fortune; no tip.” One day, after he had mentioned the fortune wasn’t good, she came back with a big handful of fortune cookies for him. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/12 "2014-12-01T21:03:23Z")
Recite the fortune and then add “…during sex” at the end. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Carryon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc29f/32.png) [@Carryon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carryon)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/13 "2014-12-01T21:53:18Z")
I don’t eat them but much like the maligned fruit cake, you can make a fortune cookie that is edible. But why bother eh? ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/14 "2014-12-01T22:07:23Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > I read the fortune out loud, adding “in bed” to the end. . . . > [@Malthus](#): > > Recite the fortune and then add “…during sex” at the end. 😉 Definitely! This is more fun at a group dinner. Me, I eat 'em. They’re yummy. Once, for a Friday the Thirteenth party, a fellow made up a whole bunch of “misfortune cookies.” “You will die in poverty.” “You will contract a wasting disease.” “You will be in an accident.” And my favorite: “You should not have eaten this cookie.” ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/15 "2014-12-01T22:16:03Z")
Love 'em, as long as they’re not too stale (or conversely, as hard as poker chips). ---
**Author:** ![Lanzy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/74df32/32.png) [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/16 "2014-12-01T22:18:30Z")
I give them away to have that person read my fortune to me and tell now it won’t count. A bit too much like cardboard for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/17 "2014-12-01T22:35:54Z")
I shove the whole damn deliciousness in my mouth, chew and swallow—Fortune and all. OM NOM NOM ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/18 "2014-12-01T22:44:58Z")
I briefly worked next to a fortune cookie factory. It smelled amazing. I like them. Nice, and not too sweet. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/19 "2014-12-01T22:48:18Z")
> [@DataX](#): > > I don’t get why people don’t like them - I think they are delicious. I secretly like going to Chinese restaurants with people that don’t like fortune cookies - as I will always eat them. Probably not much of a secret actually. > > Yummy We should go out for Chinese together. 😉 I don’t like fortune cookies, but I enjoy the fortunes. So I open mine and then offer it around the table, hoping someone will take it, as it seems wasteful and a little messy to just leave it there. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Definitely! This is more fun at a group dinner… When I go out for Chinese in a group, we just read the fortune aloud, and everyone silently adds “between the sheets” (or equivalent) and giggles. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061/20 "2014-12-01T22:56:51Z")
I eat them. I don’t particularly enjoy them. They’re nothing to write home about, but they are cookies. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fortune-cookies-delightful-treat-or-throwaway-item/706061.md?page=2)