THE average Brit owns ten cookbooks but has tried just four recipes from each, a poll claims.

Forty per cent of books remain unopened — with two thirds of people saying they find many complex and intimidating. The most daunting was Heston Blumenthal’s In Search Of Perfection, then Gordon Ramsay’s 3-Star Chef and Yotam Ottolenghi’s Jerusalem.

The survey of 2,000 adults found two-thirds (67 per cent) said they find recipes intimidating, with Jamie Oliver and Delia Smith the most likely to be praised for their simplicity.

The survey, commissioned by Italian food company Sacla, found 35 per cent of people said they were put off by the cost of ingredients, while 29 per cent said recipes were too complicated.

More than a quarter (27 per cent) said hard-to-find ingredients stopped them using the books and more than half (53 per cent) said they now find recipes online based on what they have got in.

According to the survey for Italian food brand Sacla. A third of people found the use of French terms irritating.