Looking for love? Try the kitchen, says CHRIS TITLEY

IF you want to win at the dating game, get cooking. Your ability to throw together a mouth-watering menu will impress more potential partners than your smelliest scent, cheekiest chat-up line and shiniest shoes put together.

When it comes to dazzling a date, nearly three-quarters of us choose to cook them a special dish. And 64 per cent of us spend more time dreaming up the perfect menu than co-ordinating our outfit, regarding our choice of food as revealing just as much about our personality.

So says research by food firm Sharwood's, which also found that 68 per cent of Brits believe a home-cooked meal is more romantic than eating out. And about the same number of women admit to "Jamie Oliver Syndrome": judging their date's long-term potential by his kitchen prowess.

Spicy Chinese or Thai food is the number one choice for a first dinner date, which does not surprise social psychologist Dr Petra Boynton, who conducted the survey. What you serve during this first meal speaks volumes about your romantic expectations, she believes.

"For example a roast has overtones of family dinners, hardly conducive to a passion-filled evening," she said.

"However, exotic foods such as Chinese or Thai suggest a streak of adventure, which research has shown to be far more appealing to a partner."

All this could leave gastronomically-challenged single folk in despair. But fear not: there are a few simple tips that even beginners can follow to cook up a storming first date.

First check your date's preferences, says Les Illingworth, hospitality tutor at York College.

"You need to know what they do and don't like. You could make a big boo-boo if you make a roast beef dinner and they're a vegetarian," she said. Choose a dish where you can do a lot of the preparation beforehand. That leaves you more time to get ready.

A lot of popular spicy dishes require the ingredients to be marinated in a liquor for a few hours or overnight. Then you can cook them quickly and flamboyantly.

"If you are going for steak, cut it into strips and stir fry it. Finish it off with a luxurious sauce with cream or brandy. That's quite impressive."

Never over-reach yourself. "If you're too ambitious the likelihood of it going wrong increases," Les said. And "avoid garlic. If you're planning to get it together, lots of garlic is a no-no."

There are plenty of celebrity cookbooks to choose from. "Jamie Oliver is very much flavour of the month," Les said.

"He's seen as young and trendy. He makes it look easy. He chops a bit of this or that up and throws things together - I think that appeals to a lot of people."

Choose a nice bottle of wine and finish off with a "really nice, exotic sweet: something rich, creamy and chocolatey".

There you have it, then. The recipe for love.