His new cookbook could put Sam Stern among the likes of celebrity chefs Jamie Oliver and Rich Stein - and he's only 15. Women's Editor Lindsay Jennings meets him.

IT IS the half-term holidays, but instead of languishing under the duvet like most teenagers, Sam Stern is part-way through a national publicity tour. Yesterday he was filming for Blue Peter, undertaking a three minute cooking challenge with presenter Konnie Huq. Then there are interviews with This Morning, BBC Breakfast... the list goes on.

"It does feel really strange, pretty weird," he admits, sinking into a leather chair next to his mum, Susan, in a York hotel.

The reason for the publicity whirl is Sam's colourful new cook book, Cooking up a Storm, a survival cook book for teenagers. It has been endorsed as a "cracking book" by Jamie Oliver and with his spikey hair and dark brown eyes, it is easy to see how Sam and his book are about to become the next big thing.

For Sam, cooking is a passion and it has been that way ever since he was two years old, helping his mum to knead bread in their North Yorkshire home. His mum grew up on a farm where the philosophy 'you are what you eat' was strong so it's little wonder that wholesome cooking became the norm in the Stern household.

"It's the process of creating something really nice that people can enjoy which I like and then afterwards there's the eating...mmmmmm," says, Sam, an impish smile crossing his features. "I have to eat all the time, but it has to be good food, no junk."

The idea for the book came when his brother, Tom, was at university and kept ringing up asking for family recipes. So Sam and Susan, 53, started jotting them down on paper and had the idea of converting them into a cookery book for teenagers.

The book was sold to the children's publisher, Walker Books, but they both like to think adults will pick it up too. The beauty of Sam's book is that it speaks the language of teenagers.

"You'll find the full whack of food in here," he writes. "From snacks you can wolf down while you're watching The Simpsons through to some full-on dishes that you can serve up to your family."

He admits his mum had a go at writing the prose first but the results weren't so great.

"Mum tried to write it like a teenager, but it was rubbish because you can't pretend to be a teenager," he laughs. "So I wrote it and she edited it."

The pair spent the last summer holidays compiling all the recipes for the book and painstakingly testing them all out on dad Jeffrey, 55, a book dealer, and brothers and sisters Tom, 26, Polly, 27, Alice, 25, and Katie, 28, along with Sam's friends.

The recipes are aimed at younger chefs - no complicated instructions or ingredients, nothing too fancy. Gems include sexy salmon in foil parcels with sweet potato chips and pesto, mayo and ketchup to dunk and nutritious fast food such as Italian pizzabread. They figure under handy headings - Brilliant Breakfasts, Mates Round, Impress the Girls - and there are even tips on nutrition for exam survival.

"The aim is for all of it to be healthy but to incorporate different tastes so there's something for everybody," says Sam.

Sam's mates are often at his house, helping out and hanging around for some culinary treats. But he's already finding there is a flip-side to fame. He told one journalist his friends at school sometimes called him Little Chef - only to find once the article came out that he was suddenly plagued with the title where ever he went.

"I think it's quite funny, I don't take it too seriously," he says. "They think it's cool too because they've seen the book in Borders. A lot of my mates are in the book."

Like his culinary role model, Jamie Oliver, Sam is also passionate about the kind of food being served in schools. His own school, he says, tends to over complicate food, trying to cook paella "when it just doesn't work".

"They do fish pie but you can smell it for miles away," he says, screwing up his face. "They'd be much better doing some pasta with tomato sauce or something. But I think we should wean junk food out of schools gradually and have really good chips once a week and chocolate. Otherwise they're just going to rebel."

Sam met Jamie when he went down to work in his London restaurant Fifteen for a few hours after Jamie saw the proofs for his book.

"He's really nice. He's achieved so much for kids and food. The TV programme (Jamie's School Dinners) has changed a lot and he's made a lot of sacrifices to do it when he could have just got rich," says Sam.

Sam and Susan are already working on the next book which will be full of recipes young chefs can rustle up in double quick time. Cooking up a Storm has also sold in France, Germany, Italy, Australia and will be in America next year.

There are lots of offers on the table. Could it be long before we see Sam regularly on our TV screens?

"People instantly assume that you want to be on television but it's a bit too early to say just yet," says Susan, who has enough experience as a theatre director and playwright in the region not to have her head swayed by celebrity, or to let her son get sucked into the showbiz circuit. "Our lives are going normally but there's just this extra layer."

For Sam, sitting in his jeans, trainers and trendy Carhartt tracksuit top, it may well be too early for fame. He's chatty without being overly verbose. Reserved but passionate when talking about his cooking. "I used to be really nervous about interviews but now it's getting easier," he admits.

In the long term, he would love to have his own restaurant. For now, and aside from writing books and publicity tours, there's also plenty of teenage stuff to be getting on with. Playing sport, listening to music, and coursework to be done for his GCSEs.

"I usually like to sleep for quite a long time actually," he smiles. "And I've still got school."

* Cooking up a Storm: the Teen Survival Cookbook by Sam Stern (Walker Books £9.99).