Food is a subject nearly everyone holds dear, but expressing our love of food in different languages is not so easy. Most people are proud of a particular food or dish from their culture, and eager to share it with a visitor. Similarly, most of us are excited to sample exotic new dishes or even try our hand at preparing them. So why can it be so difficult to translate recipes and other culinary topics?
Cultural Nuance
The way we view eating and mealtimes is so ingrained in our cultures that we often wrongly assume that things are the same everywhere else. These assumptions can lead to bad translations, and perhaps even prove disastrous for a company or restaurant attempting to enter a new international market.
Many companies and restaurants have struggled in international markets because they made these very assumptions, failing to account for social and cultural norms. Success with food translations often steps into the world of language localization, which is adapting a product and its translation to a specific location or country.
Taste preferences are of course essential, but food companies and restaurants must also consider a long list of often overlooked issues before attempting to expand into a new country. Do people there eat three meals a day or two? Do they eat a larger lunch, like in South America, or is dinner the big meal like in the US? How does religion influence eating? Is there a large Hindu population that considers beef sacred? Are there Muslims who fast for the month of Ramadan and don’t drink alcohol?
McDonald’s has become an expert in researching these types of questions, and subsequently an expert in localization. It not only blends its classic American burger style with local food preferences, but also looks at more obscure details like a country’s advertising demographics and national portion sizes. This skill did not come overnight, however, as the company has had its fair share of missteps in countries like Iceland and Vietnam.
Recipes and Ingredients
Translating a foreign recipe seems like a very straightforward process, and translating the individual ingredients themselves usually is. The problem arises when you want a “usable” translation, i.e., a recipe that readers in the target country can actually make.
For example, imagine that a translator is trying to create an English translation for a Philippine recipe that calls for bagoong balayan, a fermented fish paste that is salted in earthen jars. This may sound exotic to some, but it is easily found at local markets and stores in the Philippines. The translator here now has several options:
- Translate bagoong balayan into English as “fermented fish paste that is salted in earthen jars”;
- Leave the original term bagoong balayan, but also try to describe it in English; or
- Translate it as a generic “fish paste,” a product that is more widely available in foreign countries, though not a perfect translation (nor a perfect substitution for the recipe)
The correct answer varies depending on the translation’s audience, context, and purpose.
Recipe Substitutions
Geographical differences make it difficult to obtain some ingredients like types of cheeses, tropical fruits, etc., and it is common to use substitutions for recipes. There are several online recipe substitute guides that help bring exotic dishes to wider audiences, but those may also bring about additional complications for a translator. For example, an Italian dish may call for formaggio pecorino romano, a sheep’s milk cheese. If this specific type of cheese is not readily available locally, the more commonly found parmesan cheese can be used, BUT chefs recommend reducing the quantity of cheese by 1/3 in order to maintain the salt and flavor balance. Missing a detail like this can ruin a dish, and embarrass a chef and translator.
Technical Issues
To further complicate matters, even the most standardized component of a recipe, the amounts, may vary by unit of measurement and subjective descriptions. Major companies and restaurants must adhere to company-wide, local and international standards regarding food labeling, nutritional information and food preparation practices. That means a lot of translation and, depending on the countries/languages, may involve switching back and forth between Metric and Imperial, and Fahrenheit and Celsius.
Furthermore, common cooking terms and practices in one language may not translate well into another language. A “dash,” “sprinkling” or “pinch” of salt can be translated differently and lead to wildly different (and perhaps inedible) results in a dish.
Being aware of these potential pitfalls is the first step in producing the best culinary translation possible. Ignoring them, however, is a recipe for disaster.
