Fish and chips in Afghanistan

The walls are made of mud and straw, there are live snakes on the counter and you have to eat sitting on the floor, but the chips at the Backshee Fish Bar are the best in Northern Afghanistan.

A fish and chip shop is the last thing you expect to see on the muddy road leading through the grim village of Rockha, not far from the rebel front line at Bagram air base.

"I had the idea because the village already has two kebab houses, and I didn't think we needed a third," says the owner, 28-year-old Masila. Frying is done in a huge iron pan on the street on top of a fierce wood fire.

This combination of fish and chips is an accident - diners usually settle for rice and beans or mutton and nan bread. But there are cheap potatoes and delicious trout in the roaring Panshir river behind the shop.

"The best fish in Afghanistan, everyone knows," says Masila. "And I hope the best chips." They are indeed: soft and fluffy on the inside, brown and crispy on the outside.

There are no newspapers to wrap them in, and greaseproof is a luxury, like paved roads and mains electricity, that Afghanis do without.

The snakes are a problem. Hidden under two plastic cake covers, it is easy to mistake them for a local delicacy. Until they start to move. "They are not really poisonous," says Masila. "But still it is better not to touch them."