Why we need to celebrate and protect our Scottish food culture
Morning rolls as a UNESCO protected food could just be the start, says Rosalind Erskine.
Unsurprisingly, my Instagram algorithm is full of food and drink content including Lad Bible Snack Wars. This mini series sees celebrities - who are usually on the press trail promoting their latest TV series or film - try two different food items from different countries, usually USA vs UK. I found myself watching David Tenant recently as he judged snacks from Scotland versus those from England.
This led to me watching James MacAvoy doing the same thing. Both actors were fiercely proud, and often excited, to see Scottish delicacies such as macaroni pies (made in London from scratch by the team at Auld Hagg, a Scottish cafe), Tunnocks teacakes and wafers (Tenant was so delighted he pitched himself as a new ambassador for the brand), the infamous deep fried Mars bar and cans of Tennent’s. Both also spoke of memories of certain foods.
Unsurprisingly, Scotland triumphed over our auld enemy with both stars scoring their homeland’s food and drink higher than England’s. But what was surprising to some in the video comments was how well educated they were, especially MacAoy on the Scottish food and drink they were consuming. MacAvoy delighted the production team with the story behind Irn Bru and namechecked Auld Hagg.
Tenant thoroughly enjoyed his deep fried Mars bar while admitting it “wasn’t as readily available as you might think (in Scotland).” But it was the well fired morning roll with lorne sausage that was met with almost as much excitement as a Tunnocks teacake by the star - something many of us can relate to.
My mindless scrolling and watching of these videos was in the same week that food historian and friend of our podcast, Scran, Peter Gilchrist launched a campaign to give the “act of ordering a morning roll” a protected status by adding it to UNESCO’s Living Heritage project 2027. This project encourages anyone to nominate cultural traditions that they believe should be protected.
Mr Gilchrist pointed to the 500 year history of the morning roll, and thinks it should be as celebrated as our music and cultural events. He said that people in Europe are “connected to their food culture in a way that we aren’t”, and I thoroughly agree.
Our food culture, in my opinion, isn’t and shouldn’t be reduced to a few gags about the deep fried Mars bar, and we need to reconcile ours and others' perception of how ‘terrible’ Scottish food is. Scotland is home to not just the best seafood and soft fruits, there’s a tangible history in the everyday - such as the morning roll and a well made pie from the bakers (or farmers’ market) - which is why Mr Gilchrist’s campaign is so important.
If the UNESCO addition of ordering a morning roll is successful, it’d give us and the rest of the world to take Scottish food more seriously. It also starts a conversation of what other food traditions should be protected or celebrated?
Many might argue that the Lad Bible series just adds to the terrible perception of Scottish food but I’d disagree in that, it shows a range of items we’re known for; how we have an emotional connection to that food (famous of not) and starts a conversation in a humorous way, which is often the easiest route into changing perceptions.
With this in mind, I’d love it if we all got in touch and participated in Mr Gilchrist’s campaign, so the next time David Tenant is presented with a morning roll on a viral video, we can all feel the same sense of pride.
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