Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1356256
14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 MARCH 2021 NEWS LAURA CALLEJA EIGHT-YEAR-OLD Gwen Gravi- na has a passion for cooking. But she loves helping out, and the St Catherine's student has published her first cookbook, the proceeds of which are partly donated to the Puttinu Cares charity. "I have many hobbies, which in- clude musical theatre, gymnastics, ballet. However, my top favourite hobby is cooking," Gravina told MaltaToday. "Since a very young age, I have always shown an interest in cook- ing. I remember helping my mother in the kitchen, especially when we used to host friends at our house. I have always loved helping in the preparation. I remember always asking questions to learn more and more, and the more I used to learn, the more my passion for cooking grew!" When the COVID-19 pandem- ic hit the island and schools went online, Gravina and her mother de- cided to film their recipes on Face- book. Gravina said the Facebook page was geared to give children activ- ities to do during the school lock- down. "The feedback from the pub- lic was impressive, and it was then that we created my Facebook page with the name of Gwen's Cook- ing Club," she said. The dedicated F a c e b o o k page cur- rently has over 9,600 likes. Her first c o o k i n g book, Gw- en's Kitch- en, has over 60 recipes. "A lot of my followers asked me to publish a book. I told my parents that I wished to donate part of the pro- ceeds to Puttinu Cares, as I love helping people in need." With Easter around the corner, Gravina is now turning her atten- tion to one of the most important jobs in the kitchen: licking the melted chocolate leftover from the bowl after covering Easter figolli. "I love figolli, and that is my fa- vourite Easter treat. Not only do I love to eat them, but most of all, I love preparing them, and taking or- ders for all my family, to make sure we bake enough for everyone!" Gravina also loves one of Malta's most loved savoury dishes for the Good Friday fast: a filo-and-feta cheese pie. "By tradition, we bake this on Good Friday," she said. The enthusiastic cook says she loves preparing homemade food. "It's more fun than getting it or- dered online and delivered. All you need to do is read! Everywhere is nowadays flooded with different recipes that one can easi- ly follow. You will have the s a t i s f a c t i o n that you pre- pared it at home, with all the genuine ingredients." Gravina says cooking is ideal to spend quality time with the family. "Parents can allow children to assist them in the kitchen... both to cook and to clean up!" Readers who would like to get a copy of Gwen's book can send a pri- vate message on the Facebook page Gwen's Cooking Club, or order it through the website www.gwen- scookingclub.com Easter is great fun for families, says young chef whose cookbook for kids helps charity Easy! Gwen Gravina with one of her triumphs PAUL COCKS EASTER is big business for Malta's pastry chefs, but COVID-19's public health restrictions have shut down the store-fronts that paraded the figolla, sfineġ and the ubiquitous chocolate bunny. But even as the catering industry was left reeling from COVID-19's shutdown of wedding venues, the internet and food delivery platforms are still helping businesses make up for the shortfall. For the big names in the business, Easter is still providing brisk busi- ness, with Busy Bee's Geoffrey Frig- gieri and Elia's managing director Pawlu Borg Bonaci saying the COV- ID wage supplement and other Mal- ta Enterprise grants had been crucial to keeping all their staff on their books despite the loss in income. Busy Bee retained its entire 120-staff workforce, despite various concessions employees had to make. But Friggieri says the switch to on- line and deliveries kept the business going throughout the pandemic. "As soon as the pandemic broke, and with the first lockdown, we planned out how to take the busi- ness fully online. Today, online sales and deliveries have more than made up for lost sales on table service and sales at our outlets," he said. "Like some other companies, ours is a family business and has been for four generations, so we found it easy to come together to devise a contin- gency plan." The company also introduced new product lines that necessitate the re- cruitment of staff for newly-created positions. Even Borg Bonaci said that online sales and deliveries had sky-rocket- ed during the pandemic, making up for the shortfall in over-the-counter sales. For both businesses, their es- Easter treats perk up catering business Pawlu Borg Bonaci, with his father Elia: catering has had to quickly adapt to online business to make sure it can keep business moving