Translating Food-Related Cultural Terminology from English into Italian: Case Studies from Undergraduate EFL Students

Translating food-related genres often implies a certain degree of mediation (Chiaro & Rossato, 2015). Moreover, when dealing with specific genres such as recipes, mediation should be considered not only in terms of language structures but particularly in terms of culture, especially in case of ingredients and/or preparations that play a fundamental role in the dissemination of a country’s cultural traditions (Desjardins et al., 2015). The present study considers the issues of translating culture-specific food terminology in a university classroom. Recipes in English, and the translated versions in Italian, produced by Italian EFL University students are investigated. Particular attention is paid to the way in which students seek to accurately convey those aspects that contribute to the narration and dissemination of specific cultural foodscapes, while seeking to maintain a domain-specific culinary terminology.