Now, there are some things that are important to a home cook, and one of these is a set of great knives.
The Fratelli Guzzini knife block comes with a set of five kitchen knives of varying functions. They describe the knives as a knife for cold meats, a bread knife, a kitchen knife, a general-purpose knife and a carving knife.
What struck me at first was how sleek and modern the knife set looked in my kitchen. Shallow I know but this is important to me as it fits in well with my new kitchen that I am lucky to have. This knife set has been designed by award-winning Ora Ito, an Italian designer and it shows.
The set I was sent is in the grey colour scheme, with grey soft touch grips on the handles. The acrylic base is white on one side and dark grey on the other and looks super smart. It's useful having the knife block transparent on one side so you can see and select the appropriate knife for your needs.
I also was wondering how I would clean it, but it can be dismantled for ease of cleaning, which is a great idea. My old knife block was made of wood and was so hard to clean and not terribly hygienic. Everything is dishwasher safe so that is an added bonus.
As you can see above the set of knives covers most things you would need. The knives come with a little plastic guard on the tip for safety in transit which is reassuring to know.
So how sharp would these knives be, would it be style over substance? I needn't have worried. They are sharp and cut well. No problems here. One thing I would say is that they do not come with a knife sharpener so I can't comment on how long the sharpness will last.
This set of knives with knife block costs £80 (90 Euros) from Fratelli Guzzini which when you consider you get 5 quality knives and a stylish knife block, I think is a decent price. They also come in funky green and red colourways if you want to inject some colour into your kitchen.
Fratelli Guzzini also sent me a blender to review. The blender has tempered glass and feels solid. The lid fits well and has a small measuring cup built in so you can remove and add more ingredients to the blender.
The blender has a large 1500 ml capacity, perfect for a family. The settings are a slow setting 1 and faster setting 2. There is also a pulse setting as well as off.
The design of the blender is smart, whilst still being functional and unfussy. The side of the blender has a chrome finish and looks particularly lovely. The non-slip feet is a great safety feature and ensures the blender will not move when it is in use. The blades are super sharp and are suitable to crush ice, this would make it very good to make smoothies as well as blended soups, milkshakes and sauces.
The jug is heavy when full so you do need to bear that in mind, but it is also heat resistant so great when you want to blend soups, gravies and sauces that are hot.
I made a banana and peanut butter smoothie in the blender and it coped well with nuts in the peanut butter as well as making a very smooth and thick smoothie. The blender cost £90 (99 Euros) and makes a useful and chic addition to your kitchen and looks smart on your counter.
If you are looking for stylish kitchen accessories I would certainly recommend Fratelli Guzzini. The products I tried combined style with function, quality with class, a bit like me!
