Pâtes d'Alsace

Pâtes d'Alsace are a dried egg pasta with an EU protected geographical indication (PGI, French IGP), made in production units located in the Alsace region of north-eastern France. The name covers pasta made to a traditional recipe with a high share of fresh eggs.

The recipe is fixed: for every 1 kg of superior-quality durum wheat semolina, 320 g of fresh egg – the equivalent of seven fresh eggs. According to the specification the eggs enhance the flavour, make the dough easier to handle and improve the pasta's consistency during cooking. The pasta is sold in packs that leave it fully or partly visible, and each company keeps batch traceability from raw materials to finished product.

The egg-pasta tradition of Alsace is documented over several centuries. Spätzle-like dishes appear in Strasbourg cookery books of 1507 and 1530; in 1671 Abbot Buchinger recorded a recipe of plenty of eggs, good flour and salt, with no water. Until the 19th century pasta was made at home, where eggs were easy to get on the farm. In 1840 the Maison Scheurer installed a kneading machine and a hydraulic press; after 1870 hundreds of bakers dried pasta in their ovens, and Alsace became the main egg-pasta region of the German Reich. In the 20th century manufacturers settled on seven eggs per kilogram.

Alsatian egg pasta is traditionally served with jugged hare, fish matelote or Rhine salmon. According to the 2005 application, Pâtes d'Alsace accounted for over 50% of French egg-pasta production. Packs carry 'PÂTES D'ALSACE – 7 œufs frais au kilo de semoule de blé dur' and the certifier's details.