# Unusual (to me) food name **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 4, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331 "2013-08-04T16:12:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/1 "2013-08-04T16:12:55Z")
I’m being a bit vague not to bias the poll. The question is pretty simple. If I told you I was eating a food called “rocket,” would you know what I was eating? My sister found this in an iPhone game where she had to name foods using scrambled letters. There was no other word before the word “rocket,” and the more common U.S. name was not acceptable. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/2 "2013-08-04T16:16:47Z")
Yes. Born and bred in the US and I’ve known what rocket was for awhile. same as arugula ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/3 "2013-08-04T16:19:29Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > Yes. Born and bred in the US and I’ve known what rocket was for awhile. May I ask where in the U.S.? Maybe it’s regional. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/4 "2013-08-04T16:21:16Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > May I ask where in the U.S.? Maybe it’s regional. I was born in Western NY, college in Boston, lived in Pgh, St Louis, San Deigo, CT and back to NY. Honestly, I don’t know where I was living when I learned the name. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/5 "2013-08-04T16:30:08Z")
I posted in the poll thread. I heard the name from a friend who spent time in France, otherwise I have never heard the name used. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/6 "2013-08-04T16:30:46Z")
I know it. Midwestern US. I like cookbooks and cooking shows. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/7 "2013-08-04T16:33:07Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I know it. Midwestern US. I like cookbooks and cooking shows. I think a cookbook is exactly where I learned it from. Probably this one: > **[Silver Palate Cookbook](https://books.google.com/books?id=IFSeJqjkpN4C&pg=PA257&lpg=PA257&dq=silver%2Bpalate%2Brocket&source=bl&ots=N2aZYnAd6u&sig=u4zUO4Ka5cbMBVQMdnCPbZd_AAM&hl=en&sa=X&ei=1oH-Ue2SJLW64AO2iIGQCw)** > > Enriched with full-color photographs in honor of its twenty-fifth anniversary, The Silver Palate Cookbook is the beloved classic that brings a new passion for food and entertaining into American homes. Its 350 flawlessly seasoned, stand-out dishes... I have even and heard it used elsewhere. The Silver Palate cookbook was a pretty common one back in the early-mid 1990s, and was my go to cookbook for many years. ---
**Author:** ![FloatyGimpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/floatygimpy/32/7750_2.png) [@FloatyGimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FloatyGimpy)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/8 "2013-08-04T16:42:50Z")
I’m not American and had never heard of a food called rocket. Trying to guess I thought maybe a sausage or some type of bread or pastry thing. Would never have guessed it was arugula. ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/9 "2013-08-04T17:30:54Z")
I know what it is… pretty sure I learned it from a cookbook years and years ago, quite possibly The Joy of Cooking (“Your Greens…”). To be clear, I don’t think I have ever heard an American use this term in speech, that I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/10 "2013-08-04T18:06:04Z")
> [@Hello\_Again](#): > > To be clear, I don’t think I have ever heard an American use this term in speech, that I can think of. I’d associate it with at least UK English, definitely. I know what courgettes and aubergines are, too, and some similar terms. Zucchini and eggplant ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/11 "2013-08-04T18:15:35Z")
If I only _saw_ the word “rocket” as your sister did, I would not necessarily make a connection. If I _heard_ the term used in the context of dining however, I would assume that I heard “roquette” and would know that it was a salad green. ---
**Author:** ![carnut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnut/32/3531_2.png) [@carnut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnut)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/12 "2013-08-04T18:29:22Z")
Salad green or pain-in-the-butt weed, just like dandelions. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/13 "2013-08-04T18:34:47Z")
The only rocket I’ve ever heard of is related to NASA and space travel. And the 4th of July. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/14 "2013-08-04T18:48:53Z")
I’ve never ever heard “rocket” (ETA: “roquette”?) used in this way. OTOH, I’ve also never heard of “arugula” until it became famous in connection with Obama, and I’ve barely ever heard it since except in that context. (Typically, mentioned by anti-Obama types, apparently to make him sound “elitist” or something. Is there something “elitist” about arugula?) Why is arugula not acceptable for the OP’s word game? Is it not an English word? Is it Spanish? More ETA: What is arugula anyway? Is it == cilantro? ---
**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/15 "2013-08-04T18:50:03Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > I’d associate it with at least UK English, definitely. I know what courgettes and aubergines are, too, and some similar terms. Agreed, its right next to aubergine in my brain, filed under “shit British people say.” Arugula is an Italian word, and probably arrived on our shores via Italian immigration. The British, I think, got “rocket” from the French. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/16 "2013-08-04T18:58:09Z")
Never ever heard of it before. My guess would have been some type of hot dog with toppings. ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/17 "2013-08-04T18:58:17Z")
Arugula is a peppery salad green. The book I linked to up thread describes it pretty well. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/18 "2013-08-04T19:05:28Z")
I know what it is, but I’ve been under the assumption it’s a phonetic misspelling of roquette. ---
**Author:** ![drewtwo99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d07c76/32.png) [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/19 "2013-08-04T19:28:04Z")
Never heard of it before, never used arugula in my cooking either though, and wouldn’t be able to point out arugula in a line-up of various salad greens. US citizen, born and raised in Oregon and moved to Houston for several years now. Never once ever heard it, and cooking is a hobby of mine. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 4, 2013, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/20 "2013-08-04T19:33:47Z")
I’ve known it (and grown it) under the names rocket, roquette, and arugala. And it is not the same as cilantro (coriander). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331.md?page=2)