RAFAH — What is more important: the presentation of a dish, or its taste? On social media, presentation seems to be the focus — especially as Facebook photos of food spread in the Gaza Strip. Some young girls have even turned into professional cooks after publishing photos of their dishes online.

The whole thing apparently started spontaneously with Bisan Afana, when she began cooking for her family when her mother traveled. She would make different dishes and photograph them for her Facebook page. Now she has thousands of followers.

“I discovered my talent by accident. No one imagined that I would ever cook. Even my mother was not convinced, although she was the one who taught me how to cook and decorate dishes,” Afana told Al-Monitor at her house in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

She added, “I started with Palestinian dishes, then moved to cordon bleu, fettucine and Negresco. I would automatically post photos of the dishes I prepared on my Facebook page. Followers started asking me about recipes and I started posting photos of dishes along with the recipes.”