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By Carina Magyar in Vegetables —

IV: Arugula

Food that tastes like your opinions.

quartidi, the 24th of Germinal, Year CCXXXI
A forest of washed rocket. Photo by Kat Med / Unsplash

Good morning. Today is quartidi, the 24th of Germinal, Year CCXXXI. We celebrate la roquette, a popular edible green in the mustard family.

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Taramira oil, also known as jamba oil, is made from the crushed seeds of arugula. Because the plant grows in dry place, this makes arugula a great oil source for arid climates, and taramira is widely used in Central Asia (all the "-stan" countries). It's not necessarily a cooking oil because of how pungent it is, but it's useful for pickling and viscous enough to make a decent massage oil. Many people believe in its ability to keep hair healthy and growing, with some even claiming it's a baldness cure – although that's not substantiated, obviously, or we'd never see arugula on grocery shelves because it would all be going to hair tonic.

Food doesn't taste the way you think it does. Well, the actual chemistry of the stuff – the way it interacts with your taste buds – that's real enough, and close to universal, give or take a few dozen possible genetic anomalies of the tongue. But "taste" is a thought, your mind processing that chemical reaction and – most importantly, almost invisibly – forming an opinion about the experience.

So, as any restauranteur will aver, the experience of food matters almost as much, if not more, than the food itself. Are you in good company? Are you comfortable? Do you feel taken care of or even lavished upon? Does the food look good? Does the food look plentiful? Have you sat down with an open mind and a level of anticipation, even eagerness? If the answer to all those questions is "yes" then the food – as long as it's not outright poisonous – will be delicious.

And that's how arugula works.

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V: Pigeon

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