Are green-lipped mussels really green? Touring New Zealand food in translation

Abstract

To describe the food culture of New Zealand, guidebooks use its strongly culture-and-place-bound culinary terminology in both English and Te Reo Māori, the language of the indigenous Tangata Whenua, i.e. the People of the Land. This article will compare the English and the Italian versions of the ‘Food and Drink’ sections contained in three mainstream travel guidebooks in order to examine the translation techniques used to convey the linguistic specificity of New Zealand’s food terminology and eating practices. This analysis aims at establishing whether the cultural elements conveyed by food words (especially those in Te Reo Māori) are preserved or lost in translation and at determining whether both the English and the Italian texts offer the same representation of New Zealand’s ‘culinary “otherness” and “identity”.’ The article will argue that these texts use food-related terminology in Te Reo Māori to create a culinary and cultural ‘linguascape’ of New Zealand as an exotic and attractive gastronomic destination.