ARUGULA
-by Andy

Phil at Range asked a question about arugula that I’ve heard a number of times:

“Why are the arugula leaves you sell shaped differently than the arugula from other farms? Is it a different variety?”

Phil is drawing attention to the fact that our arugula, which is grown for us by Martin Bournhonesque, has a deeply lobed, oak leaf shape, while much of the arugula available in the market has a smooth, spatulate shape. (Spatulate is fancy botanical Latin for spoon shaped.)

There are a number of different arugula varieties that are commercially available that feature different shaped leaves. “Astro,” for example, has a relatively unlobed shape to the leaf even when the plant is mature. By contrast “Spirit,” has highly lobed, dramatically pinnate leaves similar to wild arugula. (Pinnate is botanical Latin for feather shaped. Pinnate leaves have lobes sticking out from the central petiole like feathers. Think ‘fern’.”

But we’re delivering the same, good old, standard arugula that every one else is. Every baby arugula has a spatulate shaped leaf. As the arugula plant matures the leaves change shape becoming more and more deeply lobed. Mature arugula also has a stronger flavor and a texture that is more resistant to damage. Lots of farms are planting arugula thickly and harvesting it when it’s very young. True, their product is softer textured, but sometimes it has the consistency of wet toilet paper. The problem is that the baby arugula may be so tender that it is easily damaged in the harvest. The bruises on the baby leaves don’t show up until the arugula is dressed with a vinaigrette, when it appears as dark blotches. Baby arugula doesn’t last as long in the refrigerator either.

Martin comes to farming from a restaurant background and he strives to harvest his greens with a restaurant’s needs in mind. Baby arugula, harvested on the farm thirty days after planting by a machine may be cheap to produce and profitable for the farmer, and it may even be preferred by your average flavor challenged Gringo consumer, but it does not deliver the piquant, nut like flavor a lot of chefs remember from Italy and France. Nor does baby arugula hold up in storage as long as mature arugula does. So Martin waits to harvest arugula until the plants are mature and he cuts selectively, so that only good leaves end up in the bag.