A few words for food in a Children’s book
I found an old children’s book and was curious about some of the terms they used for translating food terms. Books like these were common in my childhood which were just bilingual word lists. Each word will be listed along with their translation in the book, then my comments. I am not doing every word, just those that intrigued me. This book was first published in 2001.
পাউরুটি paauruʈi – loaf –This is what we call what is typically “bread” in English. Bread with yeast is not native to South Asian culture and the word was borrowed from the Portuguese word for bread pão.
রুটি ruʈi – bread – I have always translated this as flatbread, which is what English anyways uses to refer to Middle East unleavened breads
ছানা chhana – casein, posset – technically, yeah, the casein milk protein is what this is. But nobody really calls this that in ordinary language, right? This is cottage cheese, or queso fresco. And posset is made with cream, right?
পায়েস payesh – frumenty – Even I don’t know who thought of this word? Payesh already has a very clear equivalent in the western world, rice pudding, that’s basically what it is. Frumenty is like some medieval word! Frumenty is also apparently made with wheat, so not even the ingredient is correct.
খই khoi – fried-rice – fried usually implies oil, but this isn’t fried. Online I found it called parched rice, but in Bangla they used the word “bhaja” which usually means to fry. This is basically rice krispies.
খিচুড়ি khichuɽi – hotchpotch – amusing, because I guess that’s what it is, a bunch of rice, lentils and vegetables mixed in one pot. I have always translated this as “yellow rice” but there is no correct answer, because khichuri is a cultural term usually not translated.
মোরব্বা morɔbba – jam – Made me laugh and roll off the bed. This is basically candied stuff. In the western world you have things like candied ginger, orange peel, etc. In our culture the principle item used to make this is ash gourd.
পোলাউ polau – rick-rice – no comment, what the hell? Is this even a real food name? Polau is what you call pilaf.
মিশরি mishri – candy – I can accept this. This is basically what we call rock sugar.
সরবত shɔrbɔt – syrup – Interesting translation because of the way I personally experienced this word. It’s used to mean lemonade here. A lebu (lime/ lemon) shorbot is lemonade. But I suspect it is also used for other fruit juices too, like Rooh Afza. Syrup to me is the juice concentrate or sugar liquid that needs to be diluted but shorbot is not a concentration that needs dilution, it is the drink itself.
ঝোল jhol – soup – My family calls this word “gravy”. To be specific, when we make a meat curry, this is what the liquid portion of the curry is called. In our culture, after adding meat and spices to a pot, we put water and let it boil. After boiling, the liquid part of that is called jhol.
গুড় guɽ - treacle – Treacle is a liquid. This Bangla word simply refers to unrefined sugar, which can be solid or in the form of a syrup. Usually we but the solid form, a literal brick of brown sugar.
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