New York, Dec 24 - British actress Keira Knightley has confessed she can't cook.

The 'Pirates of the Caribbean' star admits she is not a culinary expert, and can rarely rustle up a meal without creating a disaster, reports buzzhollywood.com.

Knightley insists she is always burning her dinner, or dropping dishes - but she's hoping someone will buy her a cookery book this year so she can improve her kitchen skills.

'I am not the best cook in the world. I have tried, but I really am hopeless. I can cook maybe one dish. But even then, if you ate it, you'd probably end up with food poisoning. Recently, a friend explained how to make an eggplant bake. I brought it out of the oven in this beautiful bowl - and dropped it. It smashed all over the kitchen, and I burst into tears. Which is why I will ask Santa for some easy-to-understand cook books,' she said.