Alba, · Piedmont Techniques

Alba's raw veal tartare — fassone bovine breed only, hand-chopped with a knife into fine but detectable pieces (never minced by machine), dressed with lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and white pepper. In season, shaved truffle transforms it into the centrepiece of the Piedmontese table. The fassone breed's lean, delicate meat is the reason this dish exists — the muscle has near-zero intramuscular fat with a clean, sweet flavour that stands well raw. Machine-mincing would destroy the texture that defines the dish.

Alba's celebrated autumn preparation: a soft, runny-centred fried egg topped with shaved white truffle (Tuber magnatum pico) at the moment of service. The 'fondant' egg is cooked in a covered pan with butter and a splash of water — the steam sets the white while the yolk remains completely liquid. The technique ensures the egg white is just set (not rubbery) while the yolk will flow when broken, creating a sauce for the truffle. The truffle is shaved at table in front of the diner. No other seasoning beyond salt and butter.

The egg pasta of the Langhe: tajarin are the thinnest pasta in the Italian canon — a dough of 00 flour with only egg yolks (30+ yolks per kilogram of flour), producing a deeply golden, intensely eggy ribbon no wider than 2mm. Dressed with only butter and a shaving of white Alba truffle grated at the table. Nothing else. The truffle is never cooked — heat destroys the volatile terpenoids; it is shaved directly over the hot pasta where the warmth is sufficient to release the aroma. This dish exists to make the truffle audible.