Izy Hossack: the teenager who might just be the 'new Nigella' | EBay: find your thing

Izy Hossack: the teenager who might just be the 'new Nigella' | EBay: find your thing

For most teenagers, recovering from exam season doesn’t tend to involve juggling pop-up dinners in London and book signings in New York. But Izy Hossack is not most teenagers. The 19-year-old is about to publish her third cookbook, The Savvy Cook; she’s got more than 250,000 Instagram followers to keep updated; there’s her food blog, Top With Cinnamon; and, somewhere in the midst of it all, she’s fitting in her studies, on the second year of a food science and nutrition degree at Leeds University. How does she manage it? “It’s better than when I was at school,” she says. “I have a whole day off a week now.”

Still, Hossack has never been a stranger to food-filled days; she started young. “I was cooking by myself from around 10,” she says. She took inspiration from her Italian-American mum, who has made sure the whole family knew how to cook. “My mum has this silvery notebook that she writes all the family recipes in. As a kid, I was always in that, looking for classics to bake.” And this was arguably Hossack’s entrée into the food world, with plenty to explore among the wealth of scribbled recipes handed down from her Italian grandmother.

Hossack has adapted many of the recipes from her grandmother’s notebook for her blog. Photograph: Camilla Greenwell

Her blog sprung up from there, beginning with sharing recipes online as a hobby. And while her family got her into cooking, and university has given her the scientific know-how to do it with rigour, it was the blogging community who really encouraged her to pursue food as a vocation, and sparked a passion for food photography. “I got an eye for it from looking at other bloggers’ photos,” she recalls.

The phenomenal success of her blog, which has seen her dubbed “the new Nigella”, has led to a career in food styling â€" and a serious shopping habit. The path from novice blogger to recipe developer and stylist is lined with beautiful bits and bobs sought out online for props: the cake tins and other, often vintage, gadgets that bring out the best in her food photography.

‘You get this sort of dull metal in older utensils which looks so nice.’ Photograph: Camilla Greenwell

“You get this sort of dull metal in older utensils which looks so nice in shots,” she says. Hossack raves about her finds: a lovely mechanical ice-cream scoop, all wood and burnished metal, that’s also perfect for portioning cookie dough; unique French patterned loaf pans; and a favourite little yellow Le Creuset skillet, whose vintage design is striking in photographs (and which also does a superb fried egg).

Shopping for older items online is not just about the thrill of finding a unique bargain: “These things were made to last the course of time,” she says. They’re more than just props to her â€" and you sense she will keep these little finds for a lifetime, as she develops her style.

Hossack is keen to pass her passion on. Through The Savvy Cook, she’s encouraging young people to cook for themselves and think differently about healthy eating â€" to see it more as fun, imaginative and adventurous, rather than just worthy. There’s a refreshing lack of “diet fads” in the books and blog â€" and, thanks to her studies in nutrition, you won’t find any dubious science on superfoods and detoxing. Instead, Hossack’s approach to food is all about celebration and pleasure â€" which, given her meteoric rise thus far and the clear pleasure she takes in her work, seems very fitting.

Whether you’re on the hunt for a new hobby or already obsessed, eBay can help you find your passion and connect you with the things you love. If you’ve got an appetite for all things foodie, you’ll find new and classic kitchen kit on eBay

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