TRANSLATION: SPECIALIST AREAS
As sharing food is a feature of cultures around the world, it’s not surprising that there is a need for translators to tackle the nuances of labels, ingredients and recipes. French–English T/I Nicola Thayil offers us a taste of culinary translation.
… Did you know that … traditionally, Japanese soba noodle dough is kneaded using the feet?
The past decade has seen a rise in famous chefs reaching global celebrity status, and this is often accompanied by international demand for their latest book …
… but just imagine trying to translate Yotam Ottolenghi’s recipes into another language! So next time you’re browsing one of those glossy, tempting volumes, spare a thought for the translators whose job it is to render recipes accessible across barriers of language, culture and cuisine.
What actually is ‘culinary translation’?
A simple definition would be the act of translating recipes and other food-related content – such as food labels and packaging – from one language to another. In reality, however, culinary translation is a more multidimensional endeavour. It requires not only the ability to translate recipes and their lists of ingredients, but also an understanding of their cultural contexts, cooking methods and culinary traditions.
Is the original text elegant or humorous? Are the recipes simple or complex? These types of questions need to be taken into account. One of the key challenges for the translator is to transport the reader into the chef’s world. It’s a great responsibility and privilege to convey their voice and their recipes in another language.
As a teenager I was drawn to the creative aspect of cooking and enjoyed experimenting with ingredients, but some recipes can also be quite technical; and while some simply use dot points to lay out the procedure to be followed, others are written in a highly artistic way. These are just some of the challenges a culinary translator can face.
Can’t you just use a dictionary to figure out a recipe?
It’s not quite that simple. A culinary translator has to have a good grasp of the different terminology used and ingredients available in the source and target cultures and countries, whilst staying true to the original dish. This means they must take into consideration the need to be able to replicate each recipe.
In fact, as a culinary translator, one of the perks of translating recipes is that you get to discover new dishes and ingredients. You can act as an advisor on substituting ingredients in order to achieve results as close to the original as possible. This happened, for example, on my most recent book translation project. I had to test a recipe that called for ‘fromage blanc’ – a fresh cheese originating in northern France and southern Belgium. This kind of cheese is not readily available in Australia, where suggested substitutes are goat’s cheese, sour cream, ricotta and ‘queso fresco’. I tested the recipe in question with both sour cream and fresh ricotta, and settled on the ricotta as the best alternative.
A friend living in France recently posted about the ‘beef tab’ he was cooking. He’d translated the French ‘onglet de boeuf’ directly from the printed label on the meat, but this cut is actually known as ‘butcher’s steak’ here in Australia (and ‘skirt’ in the UK, and ‘hanger steak’ in the US). Beef cuts and fish names are notoriously difficult to figure out when translating, and you need more than just a dictionary.
So what are the prerequisites for becoming a culinary translator?
First and foremost, a love of food! In addition to this, you need knowledge of different cooking methods, ingredients, measurements, and dishes from around the world. Did you know that the French often measure liquids in centilitres? Or that traditionally, Japanese soba noodle dough is kneaded using the feet?
Like any translator, a culinary translator couples creative and technical skills with excellent research and knowledge of terminology to find solutions to issues and choose the right term to use in each context. Terminology, especially verbs, can have cookery-specific uses that need to be accurately translated. For example, within the French culinary sphere the verb ‘blanchir’ can be used in several ways, including to blanch or to beat until pale, and the verb ‘vider’ (direct translation: to empty) is used to mean to ‘gut’ (to remove the entrails) when preparing fish for cooking.
Culinary translators strive to convey cultural nuances appropriately, so that dishes and culinary traditions are rendered attractive to the reader. However, some recipes may need to be omitted. This can be due simply to lack of ingredient availability, or because a recipe may not appeal to the intended readers. This happened to me recently with a recipe for cold beetroot soup!
Other recipes may feature ingredients or combinations that are unacceptable to certain cultural and/or religious groups. Horsemeat, for example, is eaten in many cultures, but is unpopular in most English-speaking countries, and it’s sale is illegal in the US. And a culinary translator working with Hebrew as the target language will need to be aware of Judaism’s strict ‘kosher’ dietary rules – which prohibit, for example, the consumption of meat from various animals, and of dishes that combine meat with dairy products.
Beware idioms and pastry names!
Most cultures have lots of food-related idioms. For example, if someone says to you in English ‘It’s a piece of cake’, don’t look around for a slice of Victoria sponge or banana bread – they are actually saying that something is easy; while commenting that someone ‘has a bun in the oven’ doesn’t mean that the woman in question is doing some baking, but that she is pregnant.
If you’re a fan of French sweetmeats, you’ll probably know that many are named after things they (supposedly) look like. ‘Pain aux raisins’ translates simply and effectively as ‘raisin bread’, but the colloquial name for the same pastry, ‘escargot’ (‘snail’), may not be as appealing to cultures that don’t eat the real thing. Add ‘langues de chat’ (‘cats’ tongues’ biscuits) and ‘financiers’ (almond cakes that resemble gold bars), and it’s certainly not the time for literal translation.
On that note, bon appetit!
Nicola Thayil (née Savage) is a Melbourne-based French>English translator and French–English conference interpreter. She holds a Master of Interpreting and Translation Studies degree from Monash University, and has tutored in T&I Studies, both there and at Macquarie University, NSW. Nicola is currently AUSIT’s National Education Coordinator, serving on the Education Committee, as well as being mum to six-year-old Joseph.
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