FEATURE: International Translation Day 2022: A World Without Borders

 

Today is International Translation Day and we’d like to celebrate our translators from around the world! This year we have the opportunity to showcase even more team members and languages, which is especially fitting given this year’s theme of “A World Without Barriers.” We asked our translators to share some of their favorite real and fictional foods, so please check out their bios below!

 

RELATED: What Anime Food Dish Are You?

 

Name: Akai Kimono
Country/Language pair: Brazil, Quality Checker
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I remember when I was traveling with my parents to visit my grandpa, and on the way, we’d stop to eat some beef skewers. Good memories.

 

Name: Alicia Ashby
Country/Language Pair: USA, Japanese > English Editor
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I want to open a closet door on some Saturday and find the entrance to Western Restaurant Nekoya waiting on the other side. I’d order a small version of Gaganpo’s omelette rice for starters. 

 

Name: Angela Tamae Liu
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I love instant cream corn packets and cream korokke from Japan! I wish they were easily available here. Also, I wish Japan (and the rest of the world) would fall in love with Sour Patch Fruit Salad gummies, Sour Belt candies, and Mike & Ike candies! They help me get through rough nights of work and translation!

 

 

Name: Anna Cairistiona
Country/Language pair: US (formerly Scotland, UK), Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Scotch pancakes! I grew up eating my mum’s Scotch pancakes and they’re so good (they look closer to American pancakes than English).

 

Name: Arara
Country/Language Pair: Brazil, Brazilian Portuguese Editing & QC
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: When I worked abroad, I remember vividly that my biggest craving from Brazil was a nice, tall glass of Guaraná Antarctica, our most popular soda.

 

Name: Becky Cottrill
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Every time I see people in anime nomming on bread/buns, I get legit jealous. The huge variety of snack breads readily available in Japanese grocery and convenience stores is one of the things I miss most about Japan.

 

 

Name: David Hewitt
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: As a transplant to the great state of Maryland, I must express that to order crab cakes anywhere outside Maryland is folly. Complete and utter folly. That is all.

 

Name: Elanor Sakamoto
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I wish more people knew about chazuke (and dashi-chazuke) because it’s so cozy and satisfying. I grew up with Japanese home cooking (musubi, nabe, tsukemono, takikomigohan, etc.), but the sensibility was largely Meiji/pre-WWII, so when I finally visited Japan, it was a pleasant surprise to find that chazuke can be made with a huge variety of toppings and broth instead of tea!

 

Name: Elizabeth Ellis
Country/Language: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I love Japanese stall food, but one I never got to try when I lived there was roasted sweet potatoes (yaki-imo). Anime makes them look SO delicious!

 

 

Name: Emanuele Caccia
Country/Language pair: Italy, Quality Check
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Definitely fried polenta. Boiled cornmeal, sliced up and fried in a pan. Kind of a poor guy’s dish where I grew up but I always loved it and I think it’s way underrated (though I might be biased because my grandma basically raised me on it).

 

Name: Gustavo Hoffmann Moreira 
Country/Language pair: Brazil, Japanese > Portuguese 
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I’d have to say “brigadeiro,” a traditional Brazilian dessert made of condensed milk, cocoa powder, butter, and chocolate sprinkles covering the outside layer. Those small brown ball-shaped sweets in a small cupcake liner are a must-have at every Brazilian birthday party and truly remind us of happy times.

 

Name: Gustavo J. R. Iracema (Gustavaum)
Country/Language pair: Brazil, Brazilian Portuguese Quality Checker
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I live in a region of Brazil where our cuisine is considered one of the best in the country, so I guess it’s safe to say that one specific dish that I like most here is “Pamonha,” a boiled paste made from sweet corn whisked in coconut milk, typically served wrapped in corn husks.

 

 

Name: Jo-Ann Lieu
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I wish Jewel Meat and Century Soup from Toriko existed in real life! 

 

Name: John “Kouryuu” Pickett
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I’m totally giving away the state I was born and raised in with this answer, but nothing beats a bushel of beer-boiled blue crabs with french fries — both covered in Old Bay — and friends or family to crack them with.

 

Name: junibert
Country/Language pair: Germany, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: 1) Mapo tofu (麻婆豆腐) has been a favorite dish growing up, but it keeps on giving because every chef does their own take of it. 2) I have it on my bucket list to try to eat as much ramen as possible from Ms. Koizumi Loves Ramen Noodles. 3) This is really a Turkish thing, but döner kebap is ubiquitous in Germany and it’s super good. 

 

 

Name: Lee Francis
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Do Devil Fruits count as food? Because I am a big fan of “Rubberband Man” by the Spinners. 

 

Name: Mari
Country/Language pair: Brazil, Japanese > Portuguese
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: If you ever visit Rio de Janeiro or Bahia, I strongly recommend “cuscuz de tapioca.” It is a dessert made with coconut, milk, and tapioca. It’s delicious!

 

Name: Masako Ollivier
Country/Language pair: Born & raised in Japan; live in US / Japanese < > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I can eat Japanese curry 3 times a day for at least 3 days.

 

 

Name: Michael A.
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Kiki’s coffee, Toshio’s cucumber, Yomogi’s takoyaki, and my own homemade curry.

 

Name: Michelle Tymon
Country/Language pair: US & Japan/Japanese < > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I personally miss Japanese Yoshoku foods (Japanese takes or spins on Western foods), especially pasta dishes like macaroni gratin or Napolitan.

 

Name: Nita Lieu
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I’ve always wanted to try the mango haniwa waffle from Yakitate!! Japan 
 

 

 

Name: Nora Stevens Heath
Country/Language Pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: City chicken, a de facto Polish dish here in Michigan, has surprising roots as food for immigrant laborers in the Great Lakes and northern Appalachia. Also surprising: It contains no chicken!

 

Name: Rei Miyasaka
Country/Language pair: From Japan, living in Canada, Japanese < > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Udon’s better than ramen. Fight me. Udon soup is typically really mild, and it brings out the flavor of whatever you put in it, whether its veggies, meat, fish, mushrooms, mochi, tempura, curry…my place always smells like udon.

 

Name: Saahchan
Country/Language pair: Brazil, Japanese/Portuguese
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: “Coxinha,” literally “chicken thigh,” is a popular food in Brazil consisting of chopped or shredded chicken meat, covered in dough, molded into a shape resembling a drumstick, battered, and fried.

 

 

Name: Sarah Alys Lindholm
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: I’m a buffet lover. Fun fact: the Japanese word for “buffet” is a nod to my Swedish ancestors! “Smörgåsbord” is pretty hard to say, though, especially in Japanese. Hmm…what else do people associate with Sweden? Vikings! And so, in Japanese, we call a buffet a “Viking.” My dad makes a Christmas smörgåsbord (called julbord) on December 24th. Breads, crackers, various cheeses, pickles, herring, shrimp cocktail, peanut butter bacon dip, random stuff he has on hand…it’s pretty great! 

 

Name: Tomoko Takedani Sater
Country/Language pair: Japan & USA, Japanese < > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Nissin Chicken Ramen! There’s a part of my soul (and my stomach) that can only be nourished by Nissin Chicken Ramen… (And it’s not Top Ramen Chicken flavor!)
 

Name: William Varteresian
Country/Language pair: USA, Japanese > English
Food from your culture you wish more people knew about, or anime food you wish were real/want to eat: Fresh pizzelles are absolutely to die for and pair great with tea. I have fond memories of my great-grandmother’s, in particular.