Sites and smells of Lahore

There have been times over the last 15 years when I have been accused of being obsessed with food. Those accusations are completely vindicated. Well, maybe not 'obsessed'. But certainly fascinated.

Touring the cricket playing world is a fascinating occupation and I will be eternally grateful that I have been able to report on South Africa's return to international cricket instead of issuing parking tickets or washing dishes for a living.

But my very first job as a teenager, before I was lucky enough to be able to combine my passion for journalism and cricket, was as a chef's assistant. It involved washing many thousands of dishes (and pots and pans) before promotion to salad and vegatable chopping. Eventually I graduated to pizzas, pastas and even grilled ducks breasts.

Experience in a commercial kitchen provided as many life lessons in two short years as I've learned in the next 20. Not just restaurants, or even towns or cities, but entirte nations are routinely judged by the consumable fare that visitors are served - and, having prepared quite a bit of it myself, I'm inclined to maintain a keen eye on what's for dinner. And lunch, and breakfast, too.

So, in an effort to appease those who are tired of my descriptions of what keeps us going outside these shores, please allow me to post my video post-cards from the streets of Lahore.

There will be days-a-plenty in the months ahead to discuss cricket, with New Zealand and the West Indies here, and with tours to India, England and Australia coming up, so for the next couple of days please enjoy (or ignore if you hate the real food world) the sites and sounds of Lahore.

- Not chicken
- Boiled bones - in fat
- How's the orange jiuce? Sew, sew.....
- Eating out is for the birds