DOI: 10.30816/ICONN5/2019/50 On the multicultural character of restaurant menus: a translational perspective Mihaela Cozma West University of Timişoara, România Abstract: Starting from the reality that, in today’s globalized world, people have easy access to a wide range of cuisines from diferent cultures, the present paper discusses the multicultural nature of the menus ofered by the Romanian restaurants, and especially by those specifc to the Banat region, with the ultimate purpose of analysing the way in which food names of various origins are rendered in the English variants of these menus. Te results of this analysis are relevant for the manner in which the various culture-specifc features of restaurant menus are handled in the process of translation into a foreign language. Keywords: food names, culture-specifc, menus, techniques, translation. 1. Introduction Food represents an essential element of a culture, being considered an impor- tant marker for any person’s ethnic identity. Te early experiences that people have with food as part of their families generally create memories that last a lifetime. One proof in this respect is the fact that the taste and the smell of the childhood foods will almost always evoke nostalgia, being associated with a feeling of warmth and well- being. Moreover, no mater where they go, immigrants take with them the food of their native countries, as this brings them comfort and helps them preserve their cultural identity. One explanation for this close connection between food and culture is ofered by Kitler et al. (2012: 39), who consider that “eating is a daily reafrmation of [one’s] cultural identity”. Discussing food from a linguistic perspective, most of the terms used to denote various types of dishes, ingredients or styles of cooking represent lexical items which are deeply rooted in the cultural contexts in which they were created, and, consequently, their exact meaning is ofen difcult to understand by outsiders. In the context of glo- balization, various types of culture-specifc foods and ways of cooking have spread across national borders, and, inevitably, have come to infuence the eating habits of the people all over the world. One consequence is that, from a linguistic-cultural perspec- tive, restaurant menus have acquired a marked multicultural character, because, quite frequently, their pages include food names specifc to a wide range of cuisines. Starting from this reality, the present paper has two diferent, but still closely related objectives. On the one hand, it aims at discussing the multicultural nature of the menus ofered by the Romanian restaurants, and especially by those specifc to the Banat region, with a