Arugula (Eruca vesicaria), also called rocket, rucola or roquette, is a fast-growing salad green in the mustard family, eaten for its slim, deeply lobed leaves and their sharp, peppery, faintly nutty bite. A Mediterranean native long gathered both wild and cultivated, it is the classic counterpoint green of Italian cooking — heaped raw under shavings of Parmesan with lemon and olive oil, scattered over hot pizza and bruschetta, or wilted at the last moment into pasta and risotto, where its mustardy edge cuts richness the way watercress or radish does.