Pasta Database

Barbine

Long strandsAll of Italy

Thin strands, often coiled into nests.

Name. Italian for little beards, from barba, beard. The singular is barbina.

What it is

Barbine are very thin strands, close to capellini in width. Italian Wikipedia gives a width of 0.78 to 0.88 millimetres. Producers coil the strands into nests and dry them, so a box holds a stack of loose coils. The nests soften in seconds and unwind in the pot. During the Renaissance, cooks prized such fine strands, because they were hard to make.

English Wikipedia lists barbine as Italian without a region. Italian Wikipedia places them in Emilia-Romagna, with no source given. The strands are too fine for a heavy sauce. Cooks drop the nests into broth, or dress them with a light sauce, such as butter or oil. Supermarket brands sell them as barbine a nido.

What it is served with

Pairs with: In brodo · Butter and sage · Lemon and butter · Aglio e olio

No barbine? Use these

Ranked by how they behave with sauce, not how they look.

Capellini, uncooked, on linen

Capellini

Long strands · Campania

Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces

Fedelini, uncooked, on linen

Fedelini

Long strands · Liguria

Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 3 sauces

Linguine, uncooked, on linen

Linguine

Long strands · Liguria

Same family, also solid, also smooth, shares 2 sauces

Other names

Barbina, barbina, barbine a nido.

Sources