NORTH Yorkshire chef and farmer’s son Tommy Banks has his first book coming out.

While its release date is still a year away, orders have already been placed on Amazon and it’s safe to assume his book, Roots, will make its mark on the shelves, just as his food has on the plate.

In an era heavy with cookery programmes and celebrity chefs, Tommy Banks has been a breath of fresh air. His appearance in the finals of the Great British Menu saw him create a dessert and cocktail flavoured with Douglas Fir – literally bringing the flavour of his home on the edge of the North York Moors to life, along with lemon verbena gel and ewe’s milk yoghurt sorbet. It wasn’t a gimmicky Yorkshire dish – it was literally created from things grown near his North Yorkshire kitchen.

Tommy and The Black Swan have taken food provenance to another level and become famous for cooking fabulous dishes with ingredients grown or foraged literally by their front door.

It’s an ethos that has people flocking to The Black Swan and earned Tommy his first Michelin star at just 24.

As well as new ingredients, his approach to cooking also shows people how to be adaptable and avoid waste.

Tommy and his family grow their own crops and ingredients which are preserved, pickled and fermented using techniques from an era before food imports. While a crop failure for others might mean disaster – they use it as a chance to adapt and be more creative.

When a recent celery crop failed, the restaurant improvised by making oil from it and using the roots.

But as well as being entertaining, there is a timely message.

Food prices are rocketing and fears of global food shortages looming on the horizon; someone who can show us how to walk out of our front door and find new ingredients to cook, will find a willing audience.