"There's stuff to replace everything - if you want to have scrambled eggs, then tofu is the perfect replacement," she says.

"You can use faux bacon and you can bake cakes using bicarbonate of soda and olive oil instead of butter."

Mock meat dishes, which are cheaper than their genuine counterparts, include everything from "non-chicken cacciatore" to "chilli non-carne".

Clark, who made the leap from devouring red meat to becoming vegan five years ago, is soon to publish her second vegan cookbook.

It concentrates on vegan soups, with recipes devised by the owners of Fitzroy's Las Vegan Bakery, Michael Linden and Lia Vandersant.

Clark's first, Tempting Tempeh, has sold 1000 copies since its release last August.

Recipes include "rissoles" with garlic mash, "sausage rolls" with Italian tomato salsa, and "steaks" with wasabi mash.

"I've done a spin on meals that people know, so it doesn't seem so crazy," says Clark, whose website receives up to 5000 hits a day.

"Tempeh is a soy food and you can use it grated like mince or cut up in steaks. It has a density to it and takes on whatever flavours you add to it.

"I want to show people that being vegan doesn't mean you are giving up your food luxuries. I probably have a much more interesting diet than most meat eaters."

Isn't it pointless replicating fleshy feasts if vegans are so turned off meat?

"No, most of us didn't give up meat because we didn't like it," she says.

"It's on moral grounds. If you tell people how much water it takes to put the steak on their plate, it stops them in their tracks."

Vegan numbers are believed to have grown over the years, judging by the proliferation of vegan restaurants, cafes and bakeries.

The Vegetarian Network directory (vnv.org.au) lists nearly 50 vegetarian restaurants in Melbourne, some of which are exclusively vegan.

But there is a lack of data on how many Australians are vegetarian, let alone vegan.

The 1995 National Nutrition Survey, published by the Bureau of Statistics, found that 3.7pc of Australians, mostly female, opted for a vegetarian lifestyle.

This included variations of vegetarian, from vegan to ovo-lacto vegetarian, pescatarians (or fish-eating non-meat eaters), to non-red-meat eaters.

Melbourne man Mark Doneddu has been organising World Vegan Day, an annual event that attracted up to 5000 people in Melbourne last year, since 2003.

"When we first started, it was a picnic in the park, with 200 people," he says.

This year, the event will be held in Melbourne at the Abbotsford Convent on Sunday, October 26.

In Britain, about 5pc of the population is vegetarian and 2pc vegan. Using these figures, Donnedu extrapolates that about 1pc of Australians are vegan.

"I think more people are aware of animal treatment than ever before and the awareness of the environment has never been as intensive," he says.

Animal cruelty in the meat, dairy and egg industries remains the prime motivation for many vegans.

The cramped conditions in which chickens are kept, mulesing and slaughtering animals while they are still conscious are among their main concerns.

Like many people who switch to veganism on environmental grounds, Donnedu easily rattles off statistics to support his arguments against meat production.

Last year, more than 5 million pigs, 8 million cows, 33 million sheep and 460 million chickens were slaughtered in Australia, according to livestock figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

"The amount of water you save on a plant-based diet is enormous," Donnedu says.

"The CSIRO put out research saying it takes 50,000 litres of water to produce a kilo of beef as opposed to only 500 litres to produce a kilo of potatoes. Corn is 560 litres a kilo."

Another report published by the CSIRO last year, The Balancing Act, concluded that replacing meat with pasta and beans would have the biggest effect on reducing a person's carbon footprint.

Australia's meat-products industry accounts for 91 megatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions a year, according to the report. This compares with the 80.4 megatonnes attributable to the nation's transport industry.

A vegan diet can dramatically reduce a person's carbon footprint, but can it also erode the nutrients our bodies need to stay healthy?

"If you have followed a vegan diet all your life, there is some evidence that your body seems to be able to change the amount it wants to absorb out of food," says Aloysa Hourigan, senior nutritionist at Nutrition Australia.

"But it is difficult if a large meat-eater switches to a vegan diet."

The main problem seems to be our bodies' ability to extract adequate amounts of vitamin B12, which makes red blood cells, and minerals such as iron, calcium and zinc, from plant-based foods.

"Vegans need to eat a wide range of foods. They need to eat legumes, nuts and a range of grains such as oats, wheat and rye every day," says Hourigan.

"If you don't balance your diet well, you might find your appetite is not satisfied so then you go looking for more."

Las Vegan's Vandersant and Linden seem to have perfected the art of vegan cuisine. Such is their reputation that the couple fed the crew of the Sea Shepherd's ship - the Steve Irwin - last February when it refuelled in Melbourne.

"Vegans are so grateful and people who aren't vegan are surprised our food tastes so good," says Vandersant, a former meat-eater.

"If you've got a meat-eating background, I think that's a really good thing to bring into vegan cooking. I cook the same way as I used to cook meat but I just don't put meat in there."