Armed with the contact information I gave the museum, research specialist Noriko Sanefuji went out to investigate and met Gary, who is one of two people I have met that is as obsessed with fortune cookies as I am. (The other is Yasuko Nakamachi, the scholar who found the proof of fortune cookies existing in Japan)

I’m super excited that this history is getting preserved. Gary’s grandfather, Suyeichi Okamura, an immigrant from Japan, is one of the claimants to the original fortune cookie in the U.S. He was a supplier of fortune cookies to Makoto Hagiwara, who ran the Japanese Tea Garden at the Golden Gate Park, and one of the legendary figures tied up with fortune cookie lore.

As I cover in my book, Gary discovered the kata while digging through family history in the garage. Although some of the katas were plain, others had engraved initials (M.H. for Makoto Hagiwara) or had logos for the Tea Garden (Mount Fuji with “Japan Tea”).

Gary is donating three katas to the Smithsonian. I know in a way, it’s a dream for him. His family history is being preserved as an official part of American history.

There was an fun exchange about Chinese restaurants in today’s Supreme Court confirmation hearing of Elena Kagan, whose mom was my fifth grade teacher and whose brother taught in my high school.

SEN. GRAHAM: And I think you would tell me if you thought he was wrong. So I’m going to assume you thought he was right, because that’s the kind of person you are. And I, quite frankly, think he’s right.

Now, as we move forward and deal with law-of-war issues, the Christmas Day bomber — where are you at on Christmas Day?

MS. KAGAN: Senator Graham, that is an undecided legal issue, which — well, I suppose I should ask exactly what you mean by that. I’m assuming that the question you mean is whether a person who is apprehended in the United States is –

SEN. GRAHAM: No, I just asked you where you were at on Christmas? (Laughter.)

MS. KAGAN: (Laughs.) You know, like all Jews, I was probably at a Chinese restaurant. (Laughter, applause.)

SEN. GRAHAM: Great answer. Great answer.

SEN. LEAHY: You know, I could almost — I could almost see that was coming. (Laughter.)

SEN. GRAHAM: Me too. So you were celebrating –

SEN. LEAHY: Senator Schumer explained this to me earlier.

SEN. GRAHAM: Yeah, he did.

SEN. SCHUMER: No other restaurants are open.

SEN. GRAHAM: Right. You were with your family on Christmas day at a Chinese restaurant — okay.

MS. KAGAN: Yes, sir.

SEN. GRAHAM: That’s great. That’s what Chanukah and Christmas is all about. (Laughter.)

Love that the Jews’ love affair with Chinese food is now part of the Congressional record. My chapter, Why is Chow Mein the Chosen Food of the Chosen People has been excerpted for a project about Jews and mahjongg.

It’s an endlessly fascinating topic, and the topic of a Night Before Christmas parody as well as academic papers, including this one called “Safe Treyf” [pdf] and another by Hannah Miller. This is why I went on the Jewish book circuit.

This exchange has been noted by The New York Times, The Atlantic, Politico, Bloomberg, The Huffington Post, among others. Arguably, this will go down in the canon of famous lines from Supreme Court confirmation hearings.

As to why Jews love Chinese food? My post on pastrami egg rolls highlights some of the reasons.

• Chinese and Jews are among the two largest (if not the two largest) non-Christian immigrant groups, so they followed similar calendars. This is where Chinese food on Christmas may stem from, since Chinese restaurants were open.
• Chinese food does not use dairy (unlike the other two main longtime ethnic cuisines in America, Italian and Mexican), so when many more Jews kept kosher, Chinese food was easier to eat.
• The Chinese use of garlic, rice and chicken were familiar to an Eastern European palate.
• Chinese food was not too expensive and involved family-style sharing.
• Chinese food represented a way to become cosmopolitan.
• Chinatown and the Lower East Side, where a significant number of the Jewish immigrants from around the turn of the century lived, bordered each other. Indeed, the Eldridge Street Synagogue, the first significant Jewish house of worship in the United States, is now squarely in Chinatown these days. (It even has an egg roll festival.)
• For the Jewish immigrants, who were insecure about their rural status way back when, Chinese restaurants allowed them to feel more cosmopolitan.
• The Chinese restaurants didn’t make the Jews feel self-conscious about their immigrant status, as the Chinese owners looked more overtly immigrant than they did!
• Chinese restaurants became a place where they quietly broke kosher rules, for a variety of reasons. The exoticness of the food made it a safe place to have an exception.

Key to remember it’s largely an American Jewish phenomenon. Chinese restaurants are not noticeably popular in Israel for example.

Thanks to Charlie Savage for sending me the transcript.

Photo of American Chop Suey at Whole Foods sent to me by Elisa Mala. I’ve long been perplexed by this dish, which is essentially macaroni, ground beef and tomato paste (plus some other stuff thrown in). It’s a fairly popular dish, based on how many people cook it. How did this become American chop suey?

The funny thing is that in India they have normal chop suey, often made with ketchup, that is one of their most popular dishes. And they call it — wait for it — American Chop Suey.

I finally witnessed the famed Las Vegas “Chinatown” for the first time — which is a series of very large strip malls with Chinese and assorted other Asian businesses on Spring Mountain Road.

The original called Chinatown Plaza (pictured above), which is anchored by a Ranch 99. The strip mall was conceived by Taiwanese American developer James Chih-Cheng Chen, and opened in 1995. It was profiled in a 2004 Wall Street Journal article which doesn’t seem to be publicly available on the Internet.

Wikipedia offers an excellent write-up and Bonnie Tsui chooses it as one of five Chinatowns to focus on in her book, American Chinatown.

The food is good, and a good value. We had all-you-can-eat Korean BBQ for $18.99 + tax/tip at Motehr’s Korean Grill, and we pigged out at a Vietnamese-Chinese restaurant for $15 each for a group of 8. The meal included banh mi sandwiches, beef pho, shrimp summer rolls, shrimp paste on sugar cane, bo lac lac, among others.

The cab from the strip is not cheap: $14-$18, depending on where you are. But with a group, I think you stil come out ahead, and you have eaten better food.

Twelve focuses on one book per month, twelve max per year. It only has four full-time employees (plus all the resources at Hachette). Cary Goldstein, the publicist extraordinaire, is staying on. And they are replacing Jon with another editor.

The news was widely covered in The New York Times (print and blog), The New York Post, Los Angeles Times, The Huffington Post, among others.

This is the note that went out to authors and agents involved in Twelve.

As you may have heard by now, Jon Karp will be leaving Twelve to become the Publisher of Simon & Shuster.  I have loved working with Jon, and wish him well in his new role.  I know you share my admiration, as well as my regret that he will no longer be at the helm of Twelve.  The imprint will remain as one of finest publishing models I have ever seen, and I feel certain that it will continue to thrive as we move forward.  As I have more news to share, I will let you know.  But, for now, I wanted you to read the statement that went out to my Hachette colleagues, and to let you know that I will be happy to answer whatever questions you might have.

All best,

Jamie

Dear Colleagues –

It is regret that I inform you of Jon Karp’s decision to leave HBG for the role of EVP and Publisher of Simon & Schuster.

One of the highlights of my career has been watching the creation and evolution of Twelve, and Jon Karp’s impassioned editorial leadership of the imprint.  Twelve was conceived as a platform for virtuoso editing and brilliant publicity and marketing campaigns, with the end result being twelve outstanding books published with great impact each year – evidenced by the fact that more than half of the books published by Twelve have been New York Times bestsellers. Now the editorial baton will be passed, with Jon leaving to join Simon and Schuster, and Twelve will be led by a new publisher (to be announced) who will maintain the high standards while putting his or her own imprint on Twelve’s list.  Cary Goldstein will remain in his pivotal role as Associate Publisher.

“I will be forever grateful to Jamie Raab for giving me the opportunity to launch Twelve, and to Cary Goldstein for his dedication  on behalf of our authors,” said Jon.  “My five years here have been the happiest ones I’ve had in the publishing business.  Although I regret having to leave behind such stellar authors and colleagues, I am confident that Twelve will continue its remarkable record of success, and I will do whatever I can to ensure a smooth and successful transition.”

Jon created a unique publishing model and proved that it works.  I have loved working with Jon and I wish him great success in his new role.

Jamie

Jamie Raab
Executive Vice President and Publisher
Grand Central Publishing

The Google Translate from French to English is remarkable. She quotes my book in French and Google translate it back as elegantly as I first wrote it. It is much better than from Chinese to English.

I did travel to France for my book to visit the David restaurant, and wandered around the French Chinatown (or Quartier Chinois), so it’s interesting to see the commenters mention Tang Frères. Most of the French Chinese are from Wenzhou.

Jennifer 8. Lee (in China, the number ’8′ connotes good luck as it sounds like the word for ‘prosperity’) talks about her obsession with Chinese food, and explains how Chinese food became all-American. She is the author of the book The Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food. The program will begin with an entertaining presentation by Ms. Lee, followed by an opportunity for visitors to ask questions. At the end of the afternoon, she will be on hand to sign books.

Saturday, May 8, 2010, 2 p.m.
Carmichael Auditorium
National Museum of American History
14th Street and Constitution Avenue, NW

As stated by Ms. Lee, there are more Chinese restaurants in America than McDonald’s, Burger King, and Kentucky Fried Chicken combined. During the program, she will discuss how her obsession with Chinese food led to a remarkable journey, penetrating this subculture by traveling the world in her quest to understand Chinese food and the people who make it. She explains the origins of General Tso, his popular chicken dish, and the story behind the fortune cookie. Ms. Lee’s presentation will educate, entertain, and inspire the desire to eat Chinese food!

Jennifer 8. Lee was a reporter at The New York Times for nine years, where she wrote about poverty, crime, politics, and technology.

Free and open to the public, this program is jointly sponsored by the National Museum of American History’s Asian Pacific American Initiative Committee, Food and Wine: The Food and Wine History Project, and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Program.