Material of cooking vessels

[Carlton Bach]

Actually, was rice known to the romans?

It was, but not as a staple food. Oryza is mentioned by Anthimus, Pliny and a few other places I can't recall, but as an exotic, unfamiliar grain eaten 'elsewhere'. Anthimus provides a recipe, but it isn't much of one.

Ahh right, thanks Carlton. Suppose due to the lack of condiments and spices back then rice would have been quite uninteresting by itself, much as it still is today when cooked plainly.

It's more likely that it siomply wasn't widely grown in the Roman world. The Roimans did not want for condiments (they used different ones, but dull it wasn't), and they happily ate barley and wheat in cooked form. Rice doesn't seem to make its appearance as a major crop in the Mediterranean until the high middle ages (though we still don't quite have a good overview for the progression in the Muslim world).

Take cassava as an analogue: modern Europeans and Americans could make very appetising dishes out of it, but they generally don't, and it is not felt to be a lack.