Alba, Piedmont · The autumn ritual since the 1950s
Tagliolini with white truffle
Thin egg pasta tossed in butter and Parmesan, then buried under shavings of white Alba truffle at the table. The most expensive simplicity in Italian cooking.
The wine
A Barolo or Barbaresco from the same hills, or a mature Nebbiolo; the truffle and the wine grew up together.
The white truffle of Alba, Tuber magnatum, cannot be cultivated; it is found by dogs in the Piedmont hills from October to December and sold by the gram at prices that rival gold. Its aroma, garlic, honey, earth and something almost indecent, is destroyed by heat, so the cooking around it must be minimal: hot pasta, butter, Parmesan and the truffle shaved raw at the last second.
The dish became a ritual of the winter resorts as much as of Piedmont: at La Marmite on Corviglia above St. Moritz it has been served at 2,486 metres since the 1960s, at Da Vittorio in the Carlton the Cerea family bring their own truffle hunters’ finds up the valley, and every serious Italian kitchen from Zurich to Dubai marks the season with it.
At home, buy the freshest truffle you can afford, keep it wrapped in paper in a jar with eggs for a day, and make the pasta with those eggs. Toss the cooked tagliolini in butter and pasta water, add Parmesan, plate and shave the truffle generously at the table. Do not add cream, garlic or anything else.
The home recipe · Serves 4
Ingredients
- 300 g fresh egg tagliolini
- 80 g butter
- 60 g Parmigiano Reggiano, finely grated
- 30 to 40 g white Alba truffle
- Salt, a ladle of pasta water
- A truffle slicer
Method
- Cook the tagliolini in well-salted water for one to two minutes; it should be barely al dente.
- Melt the butter in a wide pan with a ladle of pasta water and swirl to an emulsion.
- Toss the pasta in the butter, add the Parmesan off the heat and keep tossing to a glossy coat.
- Plate in warm bowls and shave the truffle over each at the table in thin, generous slices.
- Serve immediately; the aroma peaks in the first minute.
Where to eat it
The tables for a perfect Tagliolini with white truffle.
View restaurantViewSt. Moritz · Corviglia
La Marmite
Truffles at 2,486 metres
Italian restaurantStarredSt. Moritz · Carlton Hotel
Da Vittorio St. Moritz
The Cerea family in the Alps
Italian restaurantStarredDubai · Bulgari Resort
Il Ristorante Niko Romito
Three-star Italian at the Bulgari
Seafood restaurantHotspotZurich · Limmatquai
Bianchi
Fish and pasta on the Limmat
