Rocket

rocket Eruca sativa, a salad plant which grows wild in Asia and the Mediterranean region and is most popular in Italy. The name is clearly a loan from the French roquette. The plant has been introduced elsewhere, including N. America where it arrived with Italian immigrants—hence its standard US name, arugula, a southern dialect form of the Italian rucola. In Spanish there are three names used, rucola, rucula, and orugja. It has only gained acceptance in N. American and N. European markets since the 1980s. Its flavour, akin to that of horseradish or some sorts of cress, is strong and peppery in mature leaves, so these are added to salads with discretion. Young leaves may be used freely. It is a popular vegetable in E. Africa, for example the Sudan.