P
Italian · Alba
Tajarin di Trifolau con Tartufo Bianco d'Alba
The purest expression of the white truffle from Alba: fresh egg tajarin (very thin tagliolini made with 30–40 egg yolks per kilo of flour) dressed with nothing but browned butter (or clarified butter) and generous shavings of fresh Tuber magnatum Pico (Alba white truffle). The dish contains no other ingredients of note — no cream, no garlic, no Parmigiano that might compete. The truffle's extraordinary aromatic intensity (garlic, honey, earth, gas) demands an absolutely clean stage: only the egg richness of the pasta and the nuttiness of the butter. Eaten during the October–December white truffle season in the Langhe.
I
The Market List
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For the tajarin
1 kg
tipo 00 flour
Your own market
30
egg yolks
minimum; up to 40 per kilo for maximum richness
Your own market
For the dressing
120 g
unsalted butter
browned or clarified
Your own market
32–40 g
fresh Tuber magnatum Pico (Alba white truffle)
8–10 g per portion minimum, shaved at the table only
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
1 tbsp per portion
pasta cooking water
reserved before draining
Your own market
II
The Method
1
Mound the flour on a clean board. Make a well in the centre and add the egg yolks. Work inward with a fork, then knead by hand until the dough is smooth, supple, and not at all sticky — this takes 8–10 minutes of sustained pressure. Wrap and rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. The dough is ready when it springs back slowly but completely when pressed with a fingertip.
2
Divide the dough into manageable portions. Pass each through the pasta machine, reducing the setting progressively until the finest or second-finest setting (8 of 9 or equivalent) is reached. The sheet should be almost translucent when held to the light. This is where the dish lives or dies: a sheet rolled too thick produces a heavy pasta whose mass overwhelms the truffle rather than carrying it; only paper-thin tajarin can serve as the clean stage the truffle demands.
3
Flour the sheets lightly, fold loosely, and cut into the finest possible strips — tajarin is narrower than tagliatelle, closer to 2 mm. Shake the cut pasta free and let it rest in loose nests on a floured tray. The strands should be dry to the touch on the surface but still pliable, not brittle.
4
Place serving bowls in a hot oven for 5 minutes immediately before service. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Place butter in a wide, low pan and heat until it turns a deep golden hazel and smells of toasted hazelnuts — browned butter, not burnt.
5
Drop the tajarin into the boiling water. Fresh pasta at this thickness cooks in 60–90 seconds. Reserve one tablespoon of cooking water per portion before draining. Lift the pasta directly into the pan of browned butter over low heat, add the reserved starchy cooking water, and toss briefly until each strand is glossed and the emulsion holds. The pasta should look wet and unified, not greasy or pooled with separated butter.
From the canon — Fresh egg pasta — sfoglia — is one of the most technique-dependent preparations in Italian cooking. Fresh Pasta: The Egg Dough →
6
Transfer immediately to the warmed bowls. Carry the bowls and the whole truffle to the table. Using a mandoline truffle slicer, shave the truffle directly over the pasta in paper-thin sheets — 8–10 g per portion. A second shaving ('integrazione') may follow once the diner has taken the first forkful. The truffle must be shaved at the table; if it is shaved in the kitchen and carried through, the aromatic compounds dissipate before the diner encounters them.
III
Quality Hierarchy
01
Reserve — Fresh Tuber magnatum Pico sourced directly from a trifolau (truffle hunter) in the Langhe during peak October–December season; pasta made at 40 yolks per kilo of tipo 00 flour; butter from Piedmontese mountain dairies, browned to order.
02
Estate — Fresh Alba white truffle from a reputable Cuneo-province dealer, verified by scent; pasta made at 30 yolks per kilo; quality unsalted butter browned to the hazelnut stage.
03
Market — Fresh white truffle of confirmed T. magnatum species from a trusted market supplier; commercial fresh egg pasta of the thinnest available cut as a fallback; clarified butter in place of browned.
04
House — The dish does not exist at the house rung: white truffle preserved, frozen, or replaced by truffle oil produces an entirely different and lesser preparation and should not carry the name.
IV
Sensory Tests
◇Sight. The rolled pasta sheet is almost translucent when held to the light — this confirms the correct thickness.
◇Touch. The rested pasta sheet springs back slowly but fully under fingertip pressure, confirming gluten development and correct hydration.
◇Smell. The butter smells of toasted hazelnuts before the pasta is added — if it smells burnt or acrid, it has gone too far.
◇Sight. Dressed tajarin is evenly glossed with emulsified butter and no pool of separated fat sits in the bowl.
◇Smell. The truffle shavings release their compound of garlic, honey, earth, and musk the instant they meet the warm pasta — if no aroma rises immediately, the bowl or the pasta is too cold.
◇Where it lives or dies. The pasta sheet must be rolled to near-translucency at the finest machine setting: tajarin too thick in body will overwhelm rather than carry the truffle, and the dish is lost before the truffle is even shaved.
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VI
What to Pour
The pairing
Agave spirit
From British Columbia
Wine
Without alcohol
GT's Synergy Organic Kombucha — Gingerade
Not yet stocked in British Columbia
Non-alcoholic
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The whole pairingPillar VII
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