Translation is an art that serves other forms of art. In our sector, nevertheless, it is quite common to relate the provision of language services to the creation of specific solutions for needs that exist in the technical and health sciences industry. After all, the most prolific documents frequently found in the inboxes of major translation agencies and freelance professionals are highly specialized texts belonging to a specific area of expertise. These texts include, for example, installation manuals, user manuals, descriptions of industrial and sanitary products, as well as endless legal documentation, which we further discuss in The main difficulties of legal translation. The vast abundance of these types of documents may lead us to think that translation activity is only relevant here, or that the need for qualified professional profiles is only essential in these cases, relegating other types of translation to a more anecdotal and less demanding category. Yet, in reality, outside the industrial field, there is a whole world of specializations that require translators’ maximum potential for creativity, a high level of terminological accuracy, and sufficient sensitivity to understand the absolute meaning of the source materials and how to convey their significance to target cultures. In particular, we are talking about translation that is related to forms of artistic creation and projection, ranging from pure artistic expression to crafts executed with aesthetic aspirations and persuasive purposes. Therefore, in today’s article we will focus on the translation profession in one of these fields, specifically, in the food sector.
But what do we mean by “food translation”? It is essentially the set of language services related to the localization and intercultural adaptation of texts belonging to the field of food preparation and its forms of marketing. So, how did this modality arise and why is it so important? As usual, the emergence of this modality occurs within the context of globalization. For some time now, food has significantly influenced several aspects of our society. First of all, we have culinary leisure when it comes to the travel sector. People who participate in national or international tourism want to know and taste local products and, to do so, the destinations receiving these travelers must be able to explain their products clearly and in an appealing way. Furthermore, professional cooking as well as eating with a conscience have crept onto the screens of millions of people in recent years. There are now hundreds of TV cooking shows starring professional chefs and social media has countless publications about healthy living, exotic foods, must-visit restaurants and other elements of the foodie spectrum, “foodie” being defined here. Likewise, chefs, food companies and their experts create texts related to this entire sector: cookbooks, books on healthy eating, specialized guides, restaurant menus, and a long etcetera of documents that usually have to be presented in other languages to bring their content closer to other cultures, generate interest and, ultimately, motivate the economic outlay. In other words, the food sector is closely related to the tourism and leisure sector, so food translation is a genuinely useful resource to help one reach their maximum scope and potential. So, what kind of texts are we talking about?
Undoubtedly, one of the first texts that comes to mind when discussing food translation is that of bar and restaurant menus. This is mainly due to its poor reputation, since we commonly find menus with meaningless translations that provoke the funniest reactions. This reality, nevertheless, only highlights an existing need in the industry. And it’s important to realize that the vast majority of local dishes do not have an equivalent translation in target languages, since such dishes do not exist in their respective cultures. That’s why in these cases we need a translator who knows how to find a balance between creativity and description. As such, strategically localized menus often provide a slightly longer translation that gives the target reader a general idea of what is being offered. For example, we show you the version in Spanish and in English of a restaurant’s menu, where we can see that “calamares a la andaluza” is localized to “fried breadcrumbed squids“, among other interesting examples..
Likewise, it is common to localize books, magazines and other printed publications on cooking and food so that they can be introduced into foreign markets. Of course, the ingredients must be accurately translated; but, additionally, it’s important to consider converting units in the event that the translation is carried out between cultures with different metric systems. The previous texts come in a physical format, but there’s also the electronic format. Food translation can be found on the Internet in the localization of specialized websites and blogs.
Therefore, the involvement of specialized translators or those who know how to perform in-depth documentation tasks to create accurate translations, in addition to having writing skills focused on advertising and promoting consumption, is essential. As in the most technical fields, here it will also be necessary to achieve a high level of accuracy, perform comprehensive quality controls, and create constant and fluid communication channels with the customer to know their expectations and needs at all times. With all this, we will be able to achieve and provide competitive food translations, with full awareness of the sector’s requirements and help promote the taste and appreciation for local and foreign gastronomy.
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