Rucola, rocket ,rugola
 

My trip to Italy revealed a new salad, which they refer to as rocket, I love it any idea why it has caught on hear. I even had a pizza, pizza rughetta. I loooovvee it

arugula

For some bizzare reason this is what they call arugula in Europe. I first hear it refered this way in a cooking class taught by a British woman. Not sure of the origin.

It's very popular in NJ. Until maybe about 10, or at most 15 years ago, I hardly ever saw it where I live. Now it's always avaialble at the farmers market and even in many of the supermarkets. "Rocket" is the English word. It seems to be called "rucola" these days in Italy (or at least in Umbria, where I saw it the most), but I think an older word for it was arugula (maybe that's a dialect word, but I think it's just an older Italian word, no longer in favor), and that's what most people in NJ call it, and that's what I heard it called when I was a child, when it was rarely found. I find it too something, as a vegetable. I use it as something between an herb and a vegetable, i.e. mixed with something else. In Umbria it was a popular pizza flavor. In Assisi there was also a good pasta dish with a little bit of tomato, mushrooms, hot pepper, green olives, and rucola.

I love arugula no matter which name it goes by. My favorite is a bed of fresh arugula, thin slices of grilled steak scattered over it, then big shavings of a good Romano or Parmesan cheese (I use a potato peeler to get the shavings), then a sprinkling of good olive oil over the whole thing. This is the usual presentation of "tagliata" at least in Rome, not necessarily elsewhere. My local grocery often (but not always) has arugula. I just returned from the Pacific Northwest where it appeared on a number of dishes. So I'm not sure why you say it isn't popular here?

Hi Patrick, good to see your post. How are you and how are thing going?

BTW, If you lived where I do you would not be able to buy arugula. If I am wrong I hope someone in the southern end of the Sacramento Valley will enlighten me. So many types of food I can't find that were available in SF/Bay Area.

I love it just about the same way that Patrick does it..I can even skip the steak! I find it every day in my supermarket in the organic section.

try it with hot drained pasta,garlic infused olive oil and tossed with the shredded arugola!

Patrick: I think ONeillChris lives in or near Montreal. Maybe it's not commonly available there, though that would be a little surprising, since in my one visit to Montreal, I was impressed with all the different kinds of food there.

Is arugula a recent addition to your local markets? I don't remember seeing it where I live until relatively recently.

LoveItaly: Why don't you just plant some. I'm sure it would grow. You can get the seeds by mail order if you don't see them on the local seed racks.

We've had it( packaged) in our stores in central FL for at least the last 10 years or more. My favorite restaurant in London always has it as a starter..the maitre told me one of the waiters had a small greenhouse and grew it for them,,that was why it was always available!

Hi cmt, oh my goodness, confession time. I am a fantastic cook, not to brag, but I am. But cmt I guess it would be kind to say I do not have a green thumb. Any plant I try to grow dies. I don't know what the problem is, I wish I did. Soooo, I have finally given up trying to grow anything. And the stupid thing is I come from a family that can grow anything, one grandfather had vineyards, another every vegatable known to man, my mother grew every vegatable you could think of plus fruit trees, my daughter has the most beautiful garden....than there is my father! He didn't know a plant from a weed, LOL. Guess I inherited his ignorance about gardening. And I know, I could go to classes or do lots of reading etc. But I don't. So guess like my father I prefer to let others do it. Bad me!!!

But I do love to cook. Oh btw, love to eat also. Take care.

arugula = rucola = rughetta = rocket

LoveItaly: I have an idea. You could give some rucola seeds to your next-door neighbors as a gift. To be polite, they'll have to plant them. They'll have more than they can possibly eat, so....

We love it too. Here in the boonies part of Texas, if we are very lucky we can get it in Abilene (an hour away) in the organic section. Sometimes it's mixed with baby spinach and carrots. Tonight I fixed that combo and put some Mache (???) in it, because we couldn't get a package of arugula.
In Italy, it was even served as a side dish. It was wonderful!
Jody, I love to cook too! I'm not much of a cleaner upper, but my dh will chop and dice while I cook away. I'm going to try to grow it out here in our desert back yard. I can grow spinach by planting it in the fall and letting it grow until it gets too hot - usually middle of May. So maybe I can grow arugula too.
I loved the ideas of ways to use it. I usually add some pecorino romano which is my favorite cheese this year.
But it's amazing how many people around here have never heard of it. By ANY name!

Hey cmt, how did you know my dear neighbor has the best green thumb you have ever seen??? Have you been spying on our neighborhood, LOL.

Ok, let me ask you something because I live in an apartment since I sold my house. BTW, I did manage to grow wonderful basil,chives etc. there but think it was due to the good weather, didn't have the horrible heat like we do in Vacaville.

Anyway, will arugula grow in pots?
Will arugula grow and florish in real hot weather. Probably, I imagine, as it sure gets hot in Italy.

Anyway cmt, any hints you can give me would be appreciated. Take care.

LoveItaly,

any kind of lettuce doesn't like very hot weather. I makes it bitter, it's best grown as a Spring/Fall crop.

Since the weather here in MA was horrible for so long this year I was able to pick home-grown lettuce until about 6 weeks ago. When it begins to cool again I'll sprinkle a packet of seeds over the veggie bed and hopefully we'll be back to home-grown again, it tastes so good.

My cucumbers are coming along nicely and we've had a good crop of tomatoes. My first year of trying to grow melons, i don't know if I'll be successful but if nothing else the plants look nice.

Hi alya, thanks for your advice. Maybe by the time you Fodorites get done with me I will have a green thumb!
I do love gardens, plants, flowers, vegtables etc but guess with all my years in business and community organizations, family etc. I just never had time to properly get involved in growing plants. Now that I am retired I do find I have an interest.

Have a relaxing and fun Sunday. And I do know what you mean about the weather. Hopefully autumn will be nicer.

I especially love these crazy posts, like the one about pasta. Im curious I have grown up in and around ialians all my life in montreal and even married one...The best move Ive ever made>>>I feel sorry for men without italian wives...haha... Never once did we ever have rocket-arugula-rughetta blalbla is this a new trend. Like buffalo mozzarella, never saw this before italy, I love it but my puritanical wife thinks its too new age italian???

Arugula is readily available in Montreal. Even some supermarkets carry it.

You can get mozzarella di buffala at Milano's on boul. St-Laurent; they fly it in once or twice a week. And it's not a "new" thing; they've been making mozzarella di buffala in Campania for ages.

I thought it must be available in Montreal, so I was really surprised that Oneillchris said he never sees it. Montreal impressed me as having just about "everything," in terms of food.

I buy "rocket" when in Switzerland and "arugala" at a regular QFC grocery store here in Seattle. They have it bulk next to the wild greens salad mix. But maybe it's seasonal as I hadn't noticed it before.

I requested at my local market and they now carry it all the time. If a store carries Paul Newman organic produce they will definitely be able to order it. Try arugala in a sandwich, yum.

Middle of Canada - our local grocery store sells with the prepared salad and coleslaw mixes. Sometimes it is only available in a mix called European mix.

We ate in Italy with a salad dressing of Olive oil, Balsamic Vinegar, small squeeze of lemon, salt and pepper, with generous gratings of fresh Parmesan.

I tried to grow it but it bolts quickly.

Brahmama - mache is also called lamb's lettuce. Little clusters of soft sweet leaves, sold loose in markets in France or packed as salad in bags in the UK, usually with shredded raw beetroot (much nicer than it sounds!).

A packet of rocket (roquette) seeds tossed onto prepared ground, some compost sprinkled over, kept slightly moist until sprouted then watered regularly thereafter, and it grows like a weed. I have also sown and grown it in a growbag.

LoveItaly - do you have room on a balcony for a growbag? I expect you could grow it in a pot; I grow long thin carrots in a tall bucket on my terrace....

Patrick, I often eat it the way you describe, but sometimes I forgo the parmesan and have the steak dressed Cambodian hot-and-sour style, with a dressing of rice vinegar, soy sauce, lime juice, fish sauce, red chillies and a pinch of sugar. Also works on a bed of spinach. If you add a splash of sake instead of the lime juice, you have Japanese steak! And if you are not into 'temple food' as in 'my body is a temple', a little olive or sesame oil makes a very pleasant addition!
Hey Patrick - have you tried walnut oil instead of olive? Adds a whole new dimension..

Funny you should ask about walnut oil. I love walnuts but dislike walnut oil. I had a bottle and when I used it I thought it had gone rancid and threw it out. I bought a new bottle of a "better" brand and discovered that no, it just tastes like that -- maybe an "acquired" taste.
But meanwhile a friend gave me some truffle oil in a gourmet gift basket. Now that was great on my tagliata! I also sometimes give up the steak and use sauteed or grilled large slices of mushrooms instead --mmmmm, good. But I go light on the flavors over arugula --too much of anything defeats the wonderful subtle flavor of the arula itself. In fact it is one "green" I can happily eat a salad of with no dressing at all!

There are two types of arugula/rocket. One has a leaf that looks like a radish leaf and the other is indented like a dandelion. Both have the peppery bite that increases with warmer weather. It grows easily in cool weather and reseeds itself.

Not trying to resurect a goofy post, but today I found Rustic Organic Arugala at my local specialty store and as an added bonus I found Serano Ham (Jamon Iberico)at the same shop. I'll apreciate it a bit more it was 66$ per kilo

LoveItaly,

We have family in Davis, CA (near Sacramento), and I think I saw arugula in the Nugget Market there, although I can't swear to it. Have you tried that store? Also, our Trader Joe's in Massachusetts has arugula, but perhaps not in your area. I love it -- have a big bag in my fridge right now.

Hello nonnafelice, just saw your post and am quite interested because we have a Nugget's Market here in Vacaville and I am planning on going there tomorrow. Thank you so much for advising me about Nugget's and the possiblility that they may have arugula. I go to Nugget's for items that I cannot get at the other supermarkets such as canned tuna from Italy, tomato sauce from Italy (Pomi, ingredients: tomatoes) and other good food. Mangia!

Just don't ever say "a-roo-gewe-la"

I worked with someone who pronounced it that way, EVERY DAY, and it...just...drove...me...crazy!

diddl_maus

I grow lots of arugula and it only seems to bolt in dry, hot weather. I've been growing it for years and like others have said, it is best in the spring and fall. Give it another try this fall.

I had pasta with grilled shrimp and arugula at Piatti in Sonoma, California at least 10 or more years ago. I have always loved peppery greens and this treatment was memorable.

I've grown it here in FL but you have to have a LOT of plants to get more at one time than a garnish! I planted a 6 ft row and never had enough for 2 nice sized plates at one time!

Fresh Market almost always has it in bunches..if my Publix doesn't have it in the earthbound organic farm packages, which are washed and clean ..as opposed to FM's dirty shoots!

Patrick..try walnut vinegar instead of the oil! I always bring several bottles back fron France, The oil that we get here is too heavy!

LoveItaly

If you're interested in trying to grow vegetables on a balcony try www.squarefootgardening.com - you can probably get the book from your local library.

Basically he shows you how many plants to grow in a square foot for example 1 tomato plant or 9 argula plants.

I have 4 beds that are 4'x4', one has all of my herbs and 3 cucumber plants growing up through trellis. In the other 3 beds I'm growing tomatoes (they also love to grow up trellis), green beans, melons, zucchini, nasturtium, hot peppers and swiss chard.

Earlier this year I had spinach, peas and lettuce.

I don't think I have a natural 'green thumb', it's just an easy way to get organic food and fresh herbs.

BTW, I checked earlier and I have some cantaloupes that are about 8" long :-)

Hello Alya, thank you for the information. I will see if my library has the book. Will check out the website also. And futhermore, we do have a Farmer's Market in my city on Saturday morning which I always forget about...need to go to that. My former town had one every Thursday, late afternoon and for some reason I always remembered it and consequently went to it. Need to get more organized I guess. Best wishes.

I live not far from you in Contra Costa. I'll keep my eyes open here and let you know what stores I find it in. Davis also has a pretty good farmers' market I hear. You might try that if you can.

LoveItaly, you're welcome.

nonnafelice,

aren't we lucky in MA with Trader Joes? There are 3 that I can get to quite easily but I tend to use the one in Framingham most, probably because they sell wine :-)

I love that store!

Carpaccio (the real original carpaccio of raw beef, not any of the weird new uses of the name like carpaccio of vegetables :-) ) is usually served in a similar way to Patrick's steak - topped with rocket and shaved Parmesan, and drizzled with olive oil.

My favourite dish at the place we recently stayed on the Amalfo Coast was ravioli of ricotta (which actually tasted like cheese) topped with olive oil, prawns (in shell), chopped tomato and rocket. The rocket semi-wilted in the hot juices - mmm !

Another kudo for Trader Joe's. There are two within my shopping radius here in the South Bay area of SF. Just wanted to chime in that TJ has mache. It's in the bagged greens section. So good.

Arugula grows like a weed here. At the end of the season, we harvest the seeds and plant the next generation.

My absolute favourite is a bed of rocket, with scoops of melon, draped with parma ham (or prosciutto), with shavings of parmesan cheese on the top – divine!!

Angela