Translating the wood-fired oven from an antispeciesist perspective

Abstract This study examines the intersection of food, translation studies, and antispeciesism by analyzing how traditional Turkish dishes are transformed into vegan options at Vegan Masa , Turkey’s first fully vegan wood-fired oven restaurant. Based on the idea that food serves as a cultural and communicative system, this research views the reproduction of wood-fired dishes like pide and lahmacun with vegan ingredients as acts of cultural and superasemiospheric translation within the framework of eco-translation. By analyzing menu changes and ingredients, with traditional versions seen as source texts and vegan versions as target texts, this study highlights how Turkish culinary traditions are reinterpreted through an antispeciesist lens that questions interspecies hierarchies. Content analysis of menu modifications and thematic analysis of an interview with Vegan Masa ’s co-founder reveal the subtle cultural reinterpretations involved in veganizing traditional Turkish cuisine. The results emphasize the dual role of menus as expressions of collective culinary identity and as tools for broader ecological and interspecies discussions. This research adds to the growing interest in post-anthropocentric translation practices by providing insights into how antispeciesist dietary choices are reshaping cultural narratives in Turkey, as shown through Vegan Masa ’s example of transforming ways of thinking.