Richard Olney

Rocket (Eruca sativa or Brassica eruca)

Roquette. Crucifer

Appears in

#22Simple French Food
Simple French Food

By Richard Olney

Published 1974

  • About

Annual, easily grown from seed. Its use is almost entirely limited to salads, but for that purpose, it is one of the most exciting green things I know. Most people assure me that it is the same herb as that known as arugula in the Italian-American markets. My memory is of a less distinctive flavor, but growing conditions may be responsible. Rocket does take a number of other names in Italy: Rochetta, ruchetta, ruccola, rughetta, some suspiciously resembling arugula in sound.

The deeply cut-out dark green leaves look somewhat like an elongated oak leaf. The flavor may be described as lightly bitter and peppery, but such general adjectives are helpless to touch the personality of that lovely weed. In the south of France it is not happy with the dry heat of summer and begins to flourish only in autumn. Both the wild and the cultivated varieties are common in meridional markets.