Menu Translations

If you are going to invest hours and hours to prepare the best dishes for your restaurant, make sure your guests understand the menu when they sit down at the table. An accurate translation guarantees that you and your restaurant will be taken more seriously and it will also encourage your guests to try new dishes, new flavors and new experiences which perhaps they wouldn't otherwise.

More often than not a literal, word-for-word, translation won't suffice. The complexity of Spanish cuisine often requires that the ingredients or dishes be described not simply translated. Despite the variety of Spanish products available in the English-speaking world, it is difficult for many tourists to appreciate just how much of a delicacy Iberian ham is. For them "Iberian" only connotes the ham's origin and does not communicate anything about the way the pigs are raised, their diet and exercise. Those who are familiar with Spanish cooking have the tendency to forget that not everyone knows the requirements which must be met in order to receive one of the various designation of origin for Iberian ham. In these cases, effort should be made to extol the product's quality through the inclusion of a description, and not just a proper translation which would be meaningless for many international tourists.

It is also essential to explain certain local dishes that are quite popular and well-known regionally but less so beyond their borders. Cocido madrileño is a perfect example. Anyone who has lived in the Spanish capital for any period of time is familiar with the dish however, because of its complexity, its ingredients and its presentation must be explained in detail to tourists. This is just one example but there are many others including cocido montañés from Cantabria, pipirrana from Almería or paparajotes from Murcia, not to mention that many of these dishes can be prepared in a variety of ways.

At Traducción Culinaria we don't just translate your menu, we adapt it so your customers understand it. Sometimes this requires using more words than the locals however a description is always preferable over a literal translation in cases such as:

A) Ensaladilla Rusa
Chopped Russian salad

B) Ensaladilla Rusa
Cold potato salad with hard-boiled egg, peas, carrots and tuna

Case A illustrates the lack of information many tourists have to work with when choosing their dishes in Spanish restaurants. If you cater to the needs of your foreign customers, you will see significant benefits, in terms of their satisfaction and the economic repercussions.