It's heartening to know even professional cooks sometimes get it wrong in the kitchen.

This cookery demonstration, led by Polly Tyrer, a former vice-principal of Leith's School Of Food, was aimed at introducing people to a few of the recipes in her new book The Vegetarian Bible.

As a devoted meat eater myself, I am always sceptical about the merits of vegetarian food but went open-minded.

Four main dishes were cooked before our eyes, with the wonderful aromas wafting through the auditorium: Onion marmalade cheesecake, aubergines with a chilli and ginger crust, sweet potato and garlic souffle and rocket and mozzarella tempura.

The presentation was a la Delia or Jamie but with the enticing opportunity to taste the dishes afterwards.

It was only when the audience was asking questions and someone mentioned the souffles that it was remembered they were still in the hot oven.

Yes, once retrieved, they were burnt. However, the taste was not totally spoilt once the blackened lids were removed and all the dishes proved irresistible to the audience.

I would try any again and the book will, I'm sure, become the bible its publishers hope for. Now, where's that food processor?