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The first time I had arugula was the first time it became apparent that I was some sort of "foodie." I was on a summer vacation with my parents when I was ten, visiting a resort town in central Oregon. We had gone to dinner at the fancy hotel restaurant. Being the precocious little kid (and adventurous eater) I was, for my starter salad I requested Roquefort dressing on my mixed green salad, getting quite the eye-brow raise from my parents and the waiter. Even with my adult taste and vocabulary, I'd never had a salad with arugula before and I can still remember being surprised by the distinct peppery taste.

I was just reading over at Inhabitat about Disney's Mickey Mouse-head shaped pumpkins, and someone in the comments linked to an Ohio company's site called VegiForms which looks like it accomplishes those (somewhat scary) head forms for around $20. The only catch is that you have to grow them yourself.

It was in a fancy sandwich at the Shangri-La Hotel in Manila. I was amazed at this strange, oddly garlicky, deliciously bitter, incredibly appetizing green stuff. I'm sure it also tasted 100000% better as we'd just finished our interview at the U.S. embassy in Manila, and my younger brother, sister and I were given our approval papers to come to the U.S. with my mom.

Like all Italians, I have eaten arugula (and all types of bitter greens) all my life.

Although I probably had arugula years before this memory...but it was with pasta dish...fresh clams, arugula, tomatoes, and herbs...get during the summer

What a great question - I won't forget the first time I had it either! It grew like a weed in my dad's garden that he put in when I was in early high school. I had it with heirloom tomatoes and basil (from the garden too) and aged balsamic. I don't think I realized at the time how lucky I was.

The first time I had arugula was in Sydney, Australia in 1996 and it was called "rocket"!