Asglobalizationcontinuestoreshapeourworld,theexposuretointernationalcuisinebecomesmorefrequent.Fromsushitotacos,croissantstocurry,wecaneasilyfindforeigndishesinourlocalrestaurantsnowadays.However,whenitcomestothenamesofforeigndishes,itcanbetrickytotranslatethemintoEnglish.Inthisarticle,wewilldiscussthewaystotranslateforeigncuisineintoEnglish.
Firstly,it’sessentialtounderstandthatthetranslationofforeigndishesisnotjustaboutturningthewordsintoEnglish.Instead,itrequiresgraspingtheculturalcontextandtheingredientsusedinthedish.Forexample,supposeyoutranslatetheChinesedish,“鱼香肉丝”merelyas“fishfragrancemeatshreds.”Inthatcase,theEnglishversionmaynotattractthecustomer’sattentionsincetheydon’thaveanunderstandingofthedish’sflavorandorigin.
Therefore,theuseofdescriptivewordstoexplainthetaste,texture,andingredientsofadishcanbehelpfulforthetranslation.Forinstance,theThaidish,“TomyumGoong”,literallymeansboiledshrimpsoup.However,itdoesn’tfullyreflectthedish’ssour,spicy,andfragranttaste.So,abettertranslationwouldbe‘Hotandsourshrimpsoup.’
Moreover,foreigndishescanbechallengingtotranslateassomedishesmayrelyonapunoraculturalreferencetocreatetheirname.Forinstance,theJapanesedish,“Okonomiyaki”,translatesto“grilledasyoulikeit.”Butthedish’snameisnotonlyaboutgrillingthefood,butitalsosuggeststhatitcanbemadewithanyingredientsthatthecustomerlikes.
Lastly,whentranslatingforeigndishes,it’sessentialtomaintaintheintegrityoftherecipewhilealsoensuringthatthetranslationdoesn’tcreateanyculturalmisunderstandingsoroffendanyparticulargroupofpeople.Forexample,theChinesedish,“婆罗洲雪糕”,translatesto‘Borneosnowice’inEnglish.Althoughthenamemayseemexoticandappealingtosome,thefactthatBorneoisaplacewheremanypeoplehavebeenexploitedisn’tdesirable.
Toconclude,translatingforeigncuisineintoEnglishrequiresmorethanjustfindingadirecttranslationofthewords.Itrequiresanunderstandingoftheculturalcontext,theingredientsusedinthedish,andthenecessaryuseofdescriptivewords.Moreover,itneedstomaintaintheintegrityoftheoriginalrecipewhileavoidinganyculturalmisunderstandingsoroffense.Aswecontinuetoenjoyinternationalcuisineandshareitwithothers,it’sessentialtotakecareinhowwetranslatethesedishestoensurecross-culturalunderstandingandappreciation.
