Chef Talks: Maurizio Bosetti of Il Borro Tuscan Bistro

The award-winning chef talks, pizza, pasta and the perfect dough

Using skills and secret recipes handed down through generations, Il Borro‘s head chef reveals his take on traditional Tuscan fare… 

Harper’s Bazaar Arabia: Where do you source most of your ingredients from?

Chef Maurizio Bosetti:  Il Borro outsources most of its product directly from Il Borro’s farm in Tuscany and several family run business back to Italy. We use fresh, organic and ethically grown ingredients that our local suppliers import exclusively for us. Our dishes are simple, tasty and made with lot of passion. 

HBA: Where did your culinary journey begin?

MB: I followed in my great grand-mother’s footsteps. I enrolled in Culinary Chef school at the age of 13 and it has become my passion and profession since then. My career officially started in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, the “Queen of the Dolomites”, the town which hosted Winter Olympic games in 1956. After that, I gained experience from top restaurants of London, New York and Italy receiving prestigious awards throughout my career. I moved to Dubai in 2007 as the pioneer of acclaimed Marco Pierre White and Frankie’s Dettori restaurant Frankie’s in JBR. Later, I joined La Serre Bistro & Boulangerie from the beginning stage as Head Chef and I also worked in Abu Dhabi as Executive Chef F&B consultant for a new group of restaurants.

HBA: What’s your secret to an authentic Italian pizza?

MB: All our flours at Il Borro are imported from Italy. The pizza dough is slowly fermented for 48 hours, in order to make it more digestible and ensure you don’t feel bloated after eating it. Aside the slow fermentation, the special ingredients we use are truffle and buffalo mozzarella, both are fresh and highly selected. The truffle is produced in Norcia from Il Borro Truffle man Carlo Caporicci.

HBA: What’s your favourite plate on the menu?

MB: I love pasta, very simple with fresh tomato, basil and Parmesan. At Il Borro we are offering an extensive variety of pasta, gnocchi, tortelli, risotto. Our homemade pumpkin tortelli is our most requested dish and one of my favourites. 

HBA: Your Tiramisu is definitely a highlight – what goes into creating the dish? 

MB: Our current recipe started from my grandmother. In the past 10 years, we have been working on it to make the tiramisu fluffier and lighter, reducing sugar at the lowest. 

Learn more about Il Borro here