[Sca-cooks] Recipe Translations

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

David/Cariadoc wrote:
> On the subject of translations, one point that struck me about 
> Nasrullah's al-Warraq translation--I'm not sure if I've mentioned it 
> here or not.
>
> She routinely translates "uqiya" as ounce, without explaining that the 
> pound (ratl) has twelve ounces, like the troy pound, not the sixteen 
> that most readers will assume. So her translation is correct, but 
> misleading.

Nasrallah devotes section 15 of her glossary to an extensive range of weights and measures, although she doesn't exactly explain WHY a medieval uqiya is a modern ounce.

On the other hand, in his new and better translation of al-Baghdadi's 13th c. cookbook, Charles Perry routinely translates "murri" as "soy sauce". Perry's translation is, in general, an improvement over A.J. Arberry's groundbreaking but flawed 1939 translation. Still, however close murri may be in process and flavor to soy sauce, it is NOT soy sauce, whereas Nasrallah consistently write "murri (liquid fermented sauce)".

Nonetheless, i still have enormous respect for Perry. BTW, there may be some movement afoot to try to get him as a speaker at next year's West Coast Culinary Symposium which will be in Caid. I would like to be able to thank him in person for the CD of Shirvani's manuscript he sent me and perhaps he could suggest a way for me to get familiar with Eski Osmanli.

I honestly appreciate both works and both authors - it is always good to know where there are flaws or drawbacks.

And, as i wrote, even translations by great scholars often have problems in them. (don't get me started on the textiles in US museums labeled "knitting" that are actually nalbinding or sprang!)

Urtatim (that's oor-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita