IT may be the Gordon Ramsay effect, but Scots are the most confident in Britain when it comes to their culinary ability, according to a new poll.

The survey found people north of the Border are more likely to rate their abilities to serve up a delicious meal from scratch than those living in London.

But people are less likely to use Ramsey's books, as the survey found respondents own an average six cookery books, but only make nine different meals.

Although they like think of themselves as 'foodies' and rate themselves pretty highly, the survey found only cook the same nine meals on a repetitive loop.

But one in five people of the 2,000 adults questioned have not changed that menu for over a year.

It found many cook books are gathering dust, as often an inability to source the more unusual ingredients required stops home cooks being as adventurous in the kitchen as they want to be.

Those questioned were also asked how many meals they could recall how to make without a book. People from Edinburgh could remember 11, two more than those living in Aberdeen and Glasgow. Those from the capital were also more likely to have tried something new than those living in any other town or city in the UK, barring Aberystwyth and Wrexham.

One in three aspiring foodies even admitted travelling up to an hour to get hold of interesting ingredients, according to the poll for online supermarket Ocado.