Scottish Greens back UNESCO bid for morning roll recognition

The motion, backed by 12 MSPs including Green co-leader Ross Greer and Labour leadership hopeful Joe Fagan, states that the roll deserves recognition as a "unique food group that is treasured across the country and enjoyed by many each day" with a history stretching back more than 300 years.

This is longer, it notes, than Paris has had the baguette.

It commends Mr Gilchrist's work and namechecks a handful of Southside institutions serving the delicacy, among them Cafe Strange Brew, the Green Goose, Cafe Salmagundi and Fulton's Cafe.

Holly Bruce described the morning roll as 'iconic' (Image: Colin Mearns)

Ms Bruce, whose constituency covers what she calls the "brunch capital of Scotland", said the roll had earned its place alongside the great national dishes.

"Many of the best days begin with a morning roll, just as the best nights out end with one," she said. "It is an iconic Scottish product that has been treasured for generations and woven into the fabric of everyday life across the country. I'm really proud to be backing the call for it to have UNESCO status."

"Scotland has given the world many great things, and the morning roll deserves its moment in the spotlight," she added.

The Greens' intervention gives fresh political momentum to a campaign Mr Gilchrist launched with the backing of Glasgow bakers Mortons, best known for their crispy rolls.

UNESCO defines living heritage as "the practices, expressions, knowledge and skills that communities recognise as part of their cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation and constantly recreated in response to their environment".

Entries for the register can include social practices, nature, land and spirituality, sports and games and culinary practices.

Peter Gilchrist has been leading the campaign (Image: Guild of Food Writers)

Mr Gilchrist has been touring archives across the country in search of the earliest documented reference to the roll, hoping to beat or at least match a 1601 mention already unearthed in Edinburgh, and is working with the Trades Hall of Glasgow to search its records.

Speaking to the National, Mr Gilchrist said the country reached too readily for shortbread and deep-fried Mars bars when asked to define its cuisine, rather than the food actually on people's plates.

"When you ask people what Scottish food is, they'll often say Aberdeen Angus beef, haggis, whisky, or even a deep-fried Mars bar," he said. "But those things aren't on my plate every day. They're not on most people's plates every day. If you ask someone in Italy what their food is, they'll tell you what they actually eat. They're connected to their food culture in a way that we aren't."

He linked that disconnect to poverty, arguing it was harder to take pride in culinary heritage "when food is fulfilling its most basic purpose, just keeping you alive."