Introduction

"No cook book has survived from the first centuries of France's existence; that is, after Clovis I led the Merovingian Franks, in the fifth century, to defeat their former Roman allies and overrun what had been part of the Roman empire. But in the nineteenth century, copies were found of a medical text from the sixth century, when what was still Gaul was already divided among several Frankish kings, all sons of Clovis I. One of these kings was Theuderic I (c. 485-533/4; reigned 511-534). The Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great (454-526) sent, as an ambassador, a Greek physician to Theuderic's court. This physician, Anthimus, had been exiled in 478 from Byzantium and found a refuge at Theodoric's court in Ravenna before being sent north to Metz, Theuderic's capital. While there, he wrote a long letter on diet – a dietetic – to his host, taking into account local ingredients and mentioning local practices..."

Anthimus' cuisine

"This is a work written by a Byzantine Greek sent by an Ostrogoth to the court of a Frank who had largely adopted Roman ways. Echoes of all these cultures can be found in it. For a food historian, a key question is: which of these cultures' cuisines does it describe? In just a few cases, the answer is clear. Afrutum is a Greek dish and Anthimus even references how it was eaten in Byzantium, where seafood was common. He discusses bacon specifically in terms of the Franks' customs and preferences. Most of the foods he discusses could be found in Gaul (including several expensive imported spices). More than once, he mentions a food as not being available "here". A number of the foods he mentions, such as peacock and the womb of a sow, were Roman delicacies; he also refers to a number of Roman condiments. This combination of local ingredients, Frankish specialties and a Roman approach to the more sophisticated foods probably reflects exactly what a Frankish king steeped in Gallo-Roman culture ate. It is certainly not pure Frankish cuisine, which may not have gone much beyond meat (largely pork), dairy products, beer, bread and gruel. But the upper class Franks of the sixth century were already as Roman as they were Frank..."

Anthimus and other dietetics

"Anthimus' work is in a long tradition of medical texts which address the effects of different foods on health. In the early centuries of medical thought, the distinction between food and medicine was far more fluid than it has been in modern times. Even when medical writers did not enumerate the qualities of specific foods, they often suggested foods as cures. Anthimus refers in general to “authors” without naming them and it is usually difficult, even impossible, to trace his advice back to known authors. He must certainly have known the work of Hippocrates and Galen, the two most influential medical writers for centuries. The Latin writer Celsus was almost as famous, but Anthimus' poor Latin suggests he had little literary experience of classical Latin and he may not have known this writer's work. Anthimus probably knew the De Materia Medica of Pedanius Dioscorides (c. 40-90) as well, which passes various foods in review and includes detailed comments on the medical use of these. One would also expect that he knew the work of Oribasius (c. 320-400) who wrote in Greek and compiled information from earlier works..."

Roman rice pudding

[Anthimus' instructions, redacted]

1. Boiled in pure water...
2. When it begins to be well cooked, drain the water...
3. Put in goat's milk...
4. Set the pot in the coals...
5. Cook it slowly until it becomes solid.
6. Eat it warm without salt or oil, not cold.

Anthimus did not intend this as a dessert; in fact it appears to have a medical, not culinary, purpose. Still it is virtually a rice pudding, making it very tempting to add some of his period spices – coriander, ginger, and clove (but not cinnamon or nutmeg) – and a little honey. (If “rice pudding” for you specifically implies a dish bound with the help of an egg; feel free to call this “Roman Arroz Con Leche”.) Raisins would not be inauthentic here, but adding chopped figs instead makes this more specifically Roman (as would adding some chopped stewed quinces as well). The result may not appear in any Roman or Frankish cookbook, but it would fairly suit the period. If you prefer to stay closer to the original, simply omit the figs, spices and honey. In this case, the dish might make a reasonable accompaniment to a main course.
Making perfect rice is one of those “simple” cooking tasks which in fact can be fiendishly difficult. Mercifully, here it does not matter if the rice is a little over-cooked (it may even be preferable), especially since you are after all mimicking a process performed almost two millenniums ago with minimal equipment.
Anthimus suggests making this with goat's milk. Which you should certainly do if you already drink it. For most however, it can gently be called an acquired taste. Otherwise, it may be arguable if half and half is more like milk from the cow than “whole” milk from the supermarket, but it certainly adds a rich quality lacking with the former.

1/4 cup brown rice
2 cups water
3 dried figs
3/4 cup half and half (or goat's milk, if you simply must...)
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 teaspoon ground clove
1/8 cup honey

1. Put the water and rice together in a saucepan.
2. Bring the water to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat.
4. Simmer for 40 minutes. NOTE: The rice should be fully cooked before the next step; cook longer if necessary.
5. Mix the spices and honey with the milk.
6. Chop up the figs.
7. Drain the water.
8. Cover the rice tightly and let sit for ten minutes.
9. Add the chopped figs to the rice.
10. Add the milk to the rice and stir.
11. Bring the milk to a boil.
12. Lower the heat and simmer for ten minutes.
13. Turn off the heat and cover.
14. Let sit for fifteen minutes.
15. Serve warm in a bowl.

Regarding the Use of Food

Here begins the letter of Anthimus, Illustrious Man, Count, and Legate to the most glorious Theuderic king of the Franks, regarding the use of food.

Observing to Your Piety notions, according to the precepts of medical authors, of how to eat all food and digest it well and so that it must provide health, not sickness in the stomach nor anxiety of the human heart, so that I might explain to you in general how its benefits might be procured in the future. For the health of men consists first in the appropriate food.....