Wild rocket

Wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), also called perennial wall-rocket, sand rocket or by its Italian name rucola selvatica, is a hardy perennial green in the mustard family grown for its narrow, deeply pinnate leaves and their intense peppery, mustardy, faintly nutty bite. Sharper, thinner- leaved and more assertive than the annual salad arugula it is sold beside, it is the rocket of Italian menus — heaped raw under shavings of Parmesan with lemon and olive oil, piled on pizza and bruschetta straight from the oven, folded into pasta at the last second, or laid as a spicy bed beneath cured beef and burrata, where its horseradishy edge cuts richness the way watercress or radish does.