are greatly influenced by Persian and Afghani food. The food of the minority communities also had an impact on our cuisine. As a result, Pakistani food has developed into an authentically different cuisine -- it is a melting pot of cross-cultural and boarder food traditions. Around the world, Pakistani food is almost always understood to be the same as Indian. Though the two countries share history and a and, there differences in our cuisines are evident because of regional, territorial and religious reasons. Additionally, Pakistani food is different, in aroma, methods of cooking, taste and the way we use spices and the ingredients. Photo: Courtesy PukkaPaki.com Our food is meat heavy and we love to barbeque, a lot of that is because of our Central Asian roots and the direct influences of the regions that surround Pakistan as well as the races of people that inhabit the regions. Our vegetables are simple and no meal is complete without both rice and bread. Pakistani food is alive with haunting aromas rather than just chili -- warmth from spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, star anise, mace combines combines with browned onions, tomatoes and yoghurt -- cooked with the Pakistani way, which is cooking under *'dum'* which is under steam, and also *'bhuno'*, which involves stir frying for a long time to release aromas -- all this add a distinct flavour that defines Pakistani food. In Pakistan cooking is described as the celebration of each ingredient and sharing years of developed techniques in