Gremolata Gourmet Media (Update 010)

Farmer Dave Tells-All in Rocket/Arugula Debate!

Dave Perkins' Wyndym Farm outside of Niagara-on-the-Lake is famous for their commitment to the finest quality produce - the sort found at the best restaurants.

Dave was kind enough to send Gremolata's Publisher, Malcolm Jolley, the following note apropos our continuing Rocket/Arugula saga (see column at right).

Hi Malcolm,

I'll just jump in here for a minute on the arugula/rocket debate. We have grown both strains for years here-you notice I said 2 strains. That's right, they are different. Both mustards technically speaking, brassicas to be specific, and Eruca sativa all correct. The difference is in the "wildness" of them....the flat-leaf arugula from field or hydroponic sources is a cultivated variety-called Eruca arugula and "the cultivated one. The other, a wild variety is a hardy annual plant that grows in the winter in Italy, the spiky leafed one , which when I got seeds from a Sicilian was called rucola savage...usually referred to as Selvatica by growers..

So the naming of the plant today goes back to Eruca, ruca-rucola-rugula-roquette-rocket et al...so the debate can be argued both ways, they are the same plant in two strains. As far as taste , however, we have done blind tastings on them here and very rarely does someone say it is the same plant, usually there is a strong preference for one or the other, and oddly enough, women tend to love the flat leaf (arugula) and men prefer the spikey leaf (rocket) -now we can add gender into the debate that might never be solved.....

Cheers
Keep up the good work

Dave Perkins
Wyndym Farm

Links:

Wyndym Farm: http://www.vaxxine.com/wyndym/

Gourmet Media Extra:

Where has all the Haagen Dazs Chocolate Chocolate Chip ice cream gone? Next week, Gremolata talks to the Toronto Area Haagen Dazs Association about their fight to bring back this dissapearing ice cream. Stay tuned.

Paula Wolfert Weighs In on Gremolata Rocket/Arugula Controversy!

The great Rocket/Arugula Debate on Gremolata began a few weeks ago in our interview with Leah Mclaren. Since then dozens of Gremolata readers have joined the fray and voted as to whether there is a difference between the two, or if they're really the same plant, as Gremolata Publisher, Malcolm Jolley, insists.

Now, award winning food writer Paula Wolfert weighs in from her California base with a new perspective. She wrote last week to Jolley:

Hi Malcolm,

I am thoroughly enjoying your newsletter and wanted to add my two cents on the arugula-rocket controversy. As far as I know there are at least three types of arugula: perennial ; annual; and hydroponic arugula. The first two don't look alike and their flavor is slightly different. The last two look similar but the hydroponic is weak in flavor and short on pepperiness. I could be wrong but I thought the latin for arugula was diplotaxis.

Best regards,

Paula

Gremolata will keep the debate alive. Vote and/or please send your two cents into info@gremolata.com and we'll publish it in our next issue!

Also: Paula Wolfert is still seeking information on Toronto-based culinary inventor Pierre La Serre (see Gremolata diversions). Please contact Gremolata with any information or leads.

Links:

Paula Wolfert: http://www.paulawolfert.com/