Tagliolini and Tajarin

Tagliolini are nothing more than very thinly cut tagliatelle. The art of cutting sheets of lasagne into finer noodles was discovered in the 15th century. Maestro Martino (author, and the world’s first celebrity chef) wrote in his Libro de Arte Coquinaria in 1456 that ‘macharoni alla Romana’ (fettuccine) should be cut to the width of your finger, but ‘macharoni alla Genovese’ (tagliolini) should be cut as finely as the width of a needle. Their delicacy is both a boon and a burden – these pastas are so fine, they have an ethereal delicacy, but they are easily overcooked by a miscalculation of a few seconds, and can be swamped by clumsy saucing.