Translating Arab Cuisine into English

384 Pages·2017·6.42 MB·English

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Masters Theses Dissertations and Theses
March 2018
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Paiman Salih
University of Massachusetts Amherst
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Salih, Paiman, "Translating Arab Cuisine into English: 101 Recipes" (2018). Masters Theses. 614.
https://doi.org/10.7275/10686524 https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/614
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TRANSLATING ARAB CUISINE INTO ENGLISH: 101 RECIPES

A Thesis Presented
by
PAIMAN M.A. SALIH

Submitted to the Graduate School of the
University of Massachusetts Amherst in partial
fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of

MASTER OF ARTS

February 2018

Comparative Literature
© Copyright by Paiman M.A. Salih 2018
All Rights Reserved
Permission granted by Chef Osama El-Sayed for the translation of the selected recipes
and the use of images from the original cookbooks.
TRANSLATING ARAB CUISINE INTO ENGLISH: 101 RECIPES

A Thesis Presented
by
PAIMAN M.A. SALIH

Approved as to style and content by:

_________________________________________________
Edwin Gentzler, Chair

_________________________________________________
Moira Inghilleri, Member

_________________________________________________
Nahla Khalil, Member

_____________________________________________
Moira Inghilleri, Coparative Literature Program
Director
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures

_____________________________________________
William Moebius, Department Head
Comparative Literature Program
Department of Languages, Literatures, and Cultures
DEDICATION

I wholeheartedly dedicate this thesis to the most influential figures in my life, especially…
To my best Arabic Chef of all times, Chef Osama El-Sayed for inspiring me beyond measures;
To my dad and mom for their endless love, support and patience;
To my sisters, Jeehan, Jwan, Bayan and Zina for their encouragement and motivation;
To my brothers, Abdul Salam, Mohammed, and Ahmed for drawing a smile on my face
whenever I would feel down – may you also be motivated to reach your dreams.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

First and foremost I wish to express my warmest thanks and deepest gratitude to my
advisor Edwin Gentzler for his incisive comments, deep insight and unfailing patience. It is
through him that I was first introduced to the Translation Center and subsequently became
interested in this field of Translation Studies.
I will remain very much grateful to all those people who taught me during the qualifying
year, namely, Julie Calendar Hayes, Mohammed Jiyad, and Cristiano Mazzei. I would also like to
thank professor MJ Peterson from the department of Political Science and professor Florence
Sullivan from the School of Education for the opportunity and encouragement to take their
courses. I would like to extend my gratitude to professor Kathryn Lachman for giving me this
opportunity to come back and finish this project. I would also like to express my deep
appreciation and indebtedness to the members of my committee, Moira Inghilleri and Nahla
Khalil, for their thoughtful and valuable comments on my project.
I owe a great debt to my professors at the University of Iowa, Maureen Robertson, Aron
Aji, Nataša Durovicová, Christopher Merrill, and Russell Scott Valentino for their endless
support and efforts in providing me a smooth transference to this program at the University of
Massachusetts Amherst. Without their assistance, I would never be able to accomplish my
academic goals.
I would also like to express my appreciation to the Fulbright and Amideast teams back in
Iraq and here the United States. Special thanks are due to my Amideast advisors, Joseph Pearce
and Ayad Zien who endured this long journey with me, offering assistance and guidance
throughout the course of my Fulbright Scholarship.
I am also thankful and indebted to all my friends and colleagues at the Translation Center
who helped me in one way or another over the course of the study.
Finally, heartfelt thanks also must go to my friends Amy Fagin, Wayne Hachey, Görkem
Cılam, Tina Johnston, Nidal Kadim, Katherine Lundy, and Roja Omer who constantly and
patiently encouraged and supported me throughout my study. Special thanks are also extended to
my good friends Christian Renson and Gianni Notaro for their support and kind and
understanding spirit during the last phase of my study. The friendships we developed will last a
lifetime.

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ABSTRACT

TRANSLATING ARAB CUISINE INTO ENGLISH: 101 RECIPES
FEBRUARY 2018
PAIMAN M.A. SALIH, B.A., UNIVERSITY OF MOSUL
M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MOSUL
M.A., UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
Directed by: Professor Edwin Gentzler

This thesis provides a practical translation of 101 Arabic recipes selected from three
cookbooks by the distinguished Egyptian chef and author Osama El-Sayed, plus a long
introduction discussing the history of Arab cuisine including cultural and linguistic
factors and the translation strategies employed. The cookbooks are entitled Bil Hanna Wa
Shiffa, (With Joy and Good Health) 2001; Maa Osama… Atyab, ‘With Osama, Food is
more Delicious’1, 2007; and Al-Halawiyat Al-Sharqiy, (Sweets of Arabia) 2010. I argue
that food plays a defining role in shaping a culture and its identity. In general, Arabic
recipes have been translated and many gaps exist in terms of adequate cooking terms and
processes in English. This study attempts to reduce cross-cultural barriers by translating
recipes both well-known Arabic dishes as well as lesser known dishes that also represent
values, customs, and traditions important to Arabic language and culture. The study
adopts terminology from Venuti’s dichotomy in translation, “foreignization” vs.
“domestication” and draws upon both depending upon the circumstances and availability
of adequate terms and expressions in English. After following a blended translations
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strategy, results show that out of 101 recipes, 35 are fully domesticated, 15 fully
foriegnized, 19 partially domesticated and partially foreignized, and 32 foreignized with
domesticated translations also provided. The last factor in determining the final version
was a process of taste-testing. Each step of the translated recipe carefully “proofed” to
ensure the edibility and overall quality of the dishes, showing that anyone who can read
English can prepare any of the translated texts even with a humble knowledge of
cooking.

1 This title, ‘With Osama, Food is more Delicious’ is my own English translation of the Arabic original Maa
Osama…Atyab. The two other books have been published with their English on the Chef Osama El-Sayed’s main
website. More details can be found in the following chapters.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ...................................................................................................v
ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................... vi
LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. ix
LIST OF FIGURES .............................................................................................................x
CHAPTER
1. AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF ARAB CUISINE ............................................1

Venuti’s Strategies in Translation: Foreignization vs. Domestication .........................13
Language, Culture, and Identity in Food Translation ...................................................33
Home Cooking, Arab Cuisine, and the Role of Women...............................................40

2. ONE HUNDRED AND ONE ARABIC RECIPES AND THEIR
TRANSLATIONS .............................................................................................................48

An Overview about the Recipes .......................................................................................48
Osama El-Sayed, The Arab World’s most Celebrated Chef ..........................................52

3. CONCLUSION ..............................................................................................................62
APPENDICES
1. ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND ONE RECIPES…….67
2. THE ARABIC ORIGINAL TEXT OF THE ONE HUNDRED AND ONE
RECIPES……………………………………………………………………………….245
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................... 369
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LIST OF TABLES

Table Page

1. Text Analysis of the Recipe Titles by adopting Venuti’s dichotomy of Domestication
vs. Foreignization ...............................................................................................................29

2. The Selection of the Recipes from Chef Osama’s Cookbooks ......................................56

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