# 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:** 3
**Author:** ![amaguri](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/49beb7/32.png) [@amaguri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amaguri)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/41 "2013-08-05T16:28:44Z")
I knew what it was, but I tend to watch a lot of cooking programs 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/42 "2013-08-05T16:45:58Z")
I would never have guessed that rocket meant arugula. ---
**Author:** ![BetsQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/fbc32d/32.png) [@BetsQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BetsQ)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/43 "2013-08-05T16:57:52Z")
I learned about rocket from reading menus in the UK. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/44 "2013-08-05T17:36:20Z")
Born in the US (Chicago) and, yes, it means “arugula.” I didn’t realize it was such an obscure word. I typically hear “arugula” these days, but occasionally “rocket” as well. I just checked my old Joy of Cooking, and it’s weird. It has “red leaf chickory” and “arugula” listed as the same thing. No listing for “rocket,” but there is one for “roquette.” The description of “roquette” sounds like it should be “arugula.” The description of “arugula” as an Italian salad green is correct, but it’s _not_ the same thing as “red leaf chickory,” which is also known as “raddichio.” Confusing. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/45 "2013-08-05T18:11:14Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I’ve never heard of rocket in this context. The first time I ever heard of arugula was from Steve Martin’s character in the movie **My Blue Heaven**. > [http://youtube.com/watch?v=HVbFk8-eP7c](http://youtube.com/watch?v=HVbFk8-eP7c) Me too, though I’d eaten it. I wondered what arugula was, and when I found out, “oh, that stuff.” Never heard it called “rocket”. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/46 "2013-08-05T18:18:38Z")
For example, [here’s a menu of Chicago restaurant Tuscany.](http://www.tuscanychicago.com/tuscany-taylor-lunch-menu.html) If you look at the “Fiorentina” under “Pizze e Panini,” you’ll see “rocket salad” as one of the ingredients. Oddly enough, “arugula” is also used on the menu, as “baby arugula” under the “Vitella Milanese” in the “Secondi” section of the menu. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/47 "2013-08-05T18:32:39Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Born in the US (Chicago) and, yes, it means “arugula.” I didn’t realize it was such an obscure word. I typically hear “arugula” these days, but occasionally “rocket” as well. _shrug_ It wouldn’t be the first time a word took me by surprise. I’m still not sure crudite isn’t a gigantic practical joke the rest of the world made up a few years ago just to mess with me. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/48 "2013-08-05T18:42:33Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > _shrug_ > > It wouldn’t be the first time a word took me by surprise. I’m still not sure crudite isn’t a gigantic practical joke the rest of the world made up a few years ago just to mess with me. Yeah, I always knew those as “vegetable platters” growing up. I will very occasionally hear crudite these days, but typically it’s still “vegetable platter,” at least in my circles. I vaguely remember when I first heard the term, I was thinking of some sort of crostini-type toasted thing. I assume I was conflating the concepts of “croutons” and “canapés” into “crudités.” ---
**Author:** ![FlyingRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/59ef9b/32.png) [@FlyingRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FlyingRat)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/49 "2013-08-05T20:08:51Z")
I never encountered this term before moving to Thailand, where (thanks to non-USAnian influence) many Western restaurants list rocket as a salad ingredient and pizza topping. (The latter is pretty good, actually.) ---
**Author:** ![Drunky\_Smurf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drunky_smurf/32/449_2.png) [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/50 "2013-08-05T20:42:57Z")
Yes. I learned it from watching the UK version of Kitchen Nightmares several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/51 "2013-08-05T21:11:39Z")
I knew it from Gordon Ramsey on BBC America, he kept talking about rocket salad, so I looked it up(and was disappointed) ---
**Author:** ![Leiko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Leiko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leiko)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/52 "2013-08-05T21:15:27Z")
I call it arugula, but I read enough cookbooks and watch enough British cooking series that I know what rocket is. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/53 "2013-08-05T21:27:46Z")
> [@Ferret\_Herder](#): > > 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 Australia: we call it rocket and I’m not familiar with the other term for it. Oddly enough, we don’t use the words “courgette” or “aubergine”; we say “zucchini” and “eggplant”. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/54 "2013-08-05T23:48:00Z")
I first saw it in the UK on the labels for those pre-made sandwiches in the triangular packaging from supermarkets (for ex., tuna, sweet corn, and rocket). I figured it was some kind of lettuce right away, and discovered exactly what kind when I bought one. ---
**Author:** ![KinkiNipponTourist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e9bcb4/32.png) [@KinkiNipponTourist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KinkiNipponTourist)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2013, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/55 "2013-08-05T23:52:39Z")
I learned it living here in Japan. That’s what it’s called here. ---
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/56 "2013-08-06T01:28:00Z")
Springfield, Illinois. Never heard of it before this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/57 "2013-08-06T03:41:37Z")
Looking through this thread, the term “rocket salad” does start to sound familiar. But I still don’t think I ever heard it in the US, just since coming over here. And anyway, just calling it a “rocket,” no, I’m sure I never heard that. ---
**Author:** ![Helena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c68b51/32.png) [@Helena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helena)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/58 "2013-08-06T04:01:53Z")
I have run across it online somewhere, but didn’t remember until I read the answer. (I hardly ever hear arugula mentioned, either.) ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2013, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/59 "2013-08-06T04:05:28Z")
“Arugula” sounds completely unfamiliar, but I must have heard it at least in that Steve Martin movie mentioned upthread. ---
**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 7, 2013, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331/60 "2013-08-07T01:50:47Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Looking through this thread, the term “rocket salad” does start to sound familiar. But I still don’t think I ever heard it in the US, just since coming over here. And anyway, just calling it a “rocket,” no, I’m sure I never heard that. That was the other thing I noticed looking up the concept online. It was invariably called “salad rocket” or otherwise delineated. In fact, when I googled “rocket leafy green”, I originally got _Diplotaxis tenuifolia_, a completely different plant called “wall rocket.” Then again, this game put up a picture of potato wedges but just called them wedges. So that sort of thing seems to be _de rigor_. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-to-me-food-name/665331.md?page=4)