The Langhe and Monferrato hills of Piedmont — specifically the areas around Alba, Asti, and Cuneo. The extreme egg yolk ratio is documented in 18th century Piedmontese noble household cookbooks and reflects the wealth of the region's farm eggs.
Tajarin (Piedmontese dialect for tagliolini) are the richest fresh pasta in Italy: thin, narrow egg pasta made with an extraordinary quantity of egg yolks — 30-40 yolks per kilo of flour, with no whole eggs and no water. The high yolk content creates a pasta that is intensely golden, with a rich, custardy flavour and a silky, tender texture entirely different from standard egg pasta. Dressed with butter and white truffle, it is the foundational pasta of Piedmontese haute cuisine.
The exceptional yolk quantity creates a pasta that tastes custardy and rich even before any sauce — a golden, eggy flavour that standard pasta lacks. With browned butter and white truffle, the pasta acts as a golden carrier for the truffle's heady aromatics. The texture is silky and delicate — it collapses on the tongue rather than being chewed.
The correct ratio begins at 30 yolks per kilo of flour (00) and some Langhe producers use up to 40. This quantity of yolks means the dough is very dry — it requires extended kneading (10-12 minutes) to develop the gluten and bring the yolks fully into the flour. No water, no oil, no whole eggs. Rest the dough 30 minutes minimum, then roll to setting 7 or 8 on a pasta machine (very thin) — the yolk-rich dough is stronger than standard pasta and can be rolled thinner without tearing. Cut to 2-3mm width. The pasta should be so thin you can read newsprint through it. Cook immediately: 60-90 seconds in boiling, well-salted water.
The best source for tajarin flavour is Maltagliati-grade free-range eggs with deep-orange yolks — the colour and flavour of the final pasta depends almost entirely on the quality of the yolks. Dress tajarin simply: butter (reduced until a hazelnut brown), Parmigiano, and shaved white truffle if available. The pasta is so rich that it needs no sauce — only fat, salt, and the truffle.
Using whole eggs — the texture and colour are completely different; tajarin must be yolk-only. Not kneading long enough — the dough looks crumbly and refuses to unify; keep kneading. Rolling too thick — the point of the yolk quantity is the extreme delicacy of the thin pasta; thick tajarin is missing the entire point. Over-cooking — 60-90 seconds only.
Giorgio Locatelli, Made in Italy; Marcella Hazan, Marcella's Italian Kitchen