Cooking for a dinner party using Kyocera ceramic knives

"For a special dinner to be success, you don't just need to enjoy cooking and be experienced in how to prepare it," says Mouna Freese, head chef at the NatuzziCafe in Cologne, "It all depends on high-quality, reliable kitchen tools." So when she prepares banquets, she uses ceramic knives from Kyocera. The special characteristics of FK Series blades simplify the difficult steps necessary to prepare a sophisticated dish.
Whether using meat, ripe fruit or delicate herbs, the extreme sharpness of Kyocera ceramic blades means they glide smoothly through the food without tearing or crushing. Even fresh bread can be cut cleanly without squashing. Being extremely hard, ceramic blades are guaranteed to remain sharp for a long time – lasting longer in the kitchen than virtually any other material. Together with the ergonomic handle and the surprisingly light weight of the ceramic blades, FK Series knives reduce strain and tiredness even in intensive bouts of chopping.
Ceramic knives from Kyocera are non-corroding and impermeable to both the taste and the aroma from whatever they cut, and they do not themselves transfer metal ions to the food.
Rafael Schröer, General Manager of Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH, claims with some pride, "We have produced ceramic knives since 1984, so we were among the pioneers in the field of fine ceramic kitchen products. Since the very first, Kyocera has placed the greatest emphasis on quality. Each of our knives is carefully ground by hand."
FK Series ceramic knives are available from specialist dealers now and range in price from € 29.00 – € 120.00.

The NatuzziCafe is located in the heart of Cologne. Personally designed and realised by Pasquale Natuzzi, the founder of the Natuzzi designer furniture manufacturing company, it is a place of unostentatious pure elegance, which focuses on the Italian way of life. Led by Managing Director Johannes Romig, the NatuzziCafe team not only takes the greatest of care with the coffee, but also with the preparation of gourmet dishes and the selection of exclusive wines from the best regions of Italy. "Pasquale Natuzzi has provided the city of Cologne with a café that offers a lot of people a short holiday in Italy," Romig laughs.

NatuzziCafe, Hohenzollernring 79 – 83, 50672 Cologne (near Friesenplatz), Germany, Tel: +49 (0)221-168-8110; e-mail: mailto:info@natuzzicafe.de

Ingredients:
1.5 kg beef, 1 small carrot, 1 tomato, 3 shallots, ½ red chilli, 4 ripe mangos, 250 g stale bread, 140 g Parmesan cheese, 500 ml beef stock, 2 large eggs, 80 g butter, a handful each of mint, marjoram, thyme and rosemary leaves, 1 dessertspoon dried rosemary, 2-3 dessertspoons full cream milk, a pinch of freshly-grated nutmeg, flour, salt, sea salt, pepper (white & black)
Preparation - The meat
Wash the meat and brown all over in a roasting tray. Finely chop the carrot, tomato and shallots, add to roasting tray and sweat gently. Turn the heat up then add the beef stock so it sizzles. Add salt, pepper and chilli and allow to stew in the oven for an hour and a half.

• The sauce
  Peel the mangos. Cut two of the mangos into slices and set aside to garnish the sauce. For flavour cut the remaining two mangos into pieces and fry briefly in butter, then puree and thin with a little water. Once the meat is ready, pour the juices from the meat into a separate pan and stir with the mango sauce. Bring up to the boil again, puree, and add cognac to taste, with a little more salt, sugar and white pepper if you like. Reduce sauce, and add two pieces of cold butter to thicken.
• For the gnocchi
  Cut the crust off the bread, then chop the bread crust finely. Finely chop the mint, marjoram, thyme and rosemary leaves as well and add the dried rosemary to the crust. Grate the Parmesan cheese and whisk the eggs gently, then add both to the bread crust and herb mixture. Blend with 2 – 3 dessertspoons of full cream milk, the freshly grated nutmeg, sea salt and pepper, and knead until it forms a firm dough. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more milk, if it is too moist, add a little flour.
  Cover a work surface lightly with flour and divide the dough into four parts, rolling them out into 2.5 cm thick rolls and cutting them into 1 cm thick disks. Boil the gnocchi in a large pot with briskly boiling salted water for about 30 seconds, until they float to the surface. Then remove from the water with a perforated spoon and place in a warm dish.

Photos: © Kyocera 2008
Reprint: free of charge; please send copy to Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH