ARUGULA

This is ARUGULA. It is the most homosexual of all the leafy greens. It is soft to the touch, with a bright green color and even though it is not a lily looks a bit like a fleur-de-lis. Fleur-de-lis is French, which is the most homosexual of languages and perhaps this has something to do with arugula’s gay reputation.

In other countries, arugula is known as ROCKET or ROQUETTE (see French). LaRousse Gastronomique describes arugula this way:

ROCKET (CRESS). Roquette—Strong smelling plant with sharp and piquant flavour. Its leaves are smooth and glabrous, the flowers white or pale yellow and it grows wild in the fields. It is used as seasoning in salads.

Despite its strong, sharp flavor, arugula in American mainstream media is portrayed as effete. President Obama was tainted by the emasculating aura of arugula on the campaign trail in 2007 when he complained about the rising price of arugula. (Clinton had his own radicchio debacle, which will be discussed in a later post.) This wasn’t a deathblow to the candidate. Currently, Michelle Obama grows arugula in the White House organic garden.