Fresh Truffles -  Information
Fresh Truffles
Fresh Truffles -  Information
About Fresh Truffles:
Grown underground and hunted only by the help of pigs and dogs, these rare and luxurious tubers are one of the most sought after ingredients by top chefs. They have been called the diamond of the kitchen. Known as one of the most desirable gourmet foods, nothing else comes close to the flavor of a truffle.
We are thrilled to offer an exciting array of truffles and truffle products all made naturally from the truffle itself. No artificial ingredients are ever added and all flavors are natural. Enjoy all that this magically flavorful tuber has to offer.
Biology of Truffles
The truffle is an underground mushroom made up of two parts.  The first is the fruiting, the part that you eat.  The second part is invisible and is made up of the truffle’s “roots.”
The fruiting body appears during different seasons depending on the type of truffle.  The truffle can be large or small, evenly or irregularly shaped, and be present at a depth of between 4 to 16 inches.  Underneath its skin, which can be smooth or rough, is a soft flesh.
The truffle’s environment is of the utmost importance for the development of the truffles.  It is a very demanding mushroom that needs particular environmental conditions, another reason they are so precious.
Truffles grow in woods that have a mix of trees with a little undergrowth to maintain humidity often found along the banks of streams, but also by footpaths, pine trees, and poplars. Each species of truffle needs different soil and climate conditions.
Nutritional Information
The truffle’s strong point is its scent, which comes from a compound called bis-methyltiomethane, an aromatic hydrocarbon.  But a truffle is not just a scent: it also has nutritional value, a value that is almost identical for all the different species of truffles, but which varies depending on the environmental conditions in which the truffle develops.
Truffles contain 72% water, very little vegetable fat (0.6%) and a decent amount of protein (8.6%).  Truffles are some of the most nutritious mushroom available.  Their proteins are intact and rich in methionine, cysteine, and lysene.  Truffles are also rich in minerals such as phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, sodium, iron, sulphur, chlorine, and silicone, as well as amino acids.  They also contain fiber (7.6%), an important component for digestion.
 
See Seasonal Availability and Prices
Black Truffles
a) Tuber Melanosporum Vitt. (Perigord/Dolce di Norcia)
Availability: Nov. – March
• The world’s best-known truffle
The fruity body can vary in size from that of a hazelnut to an orange. Its shape varies from round and even to irregular and lobed. The skin is black, sometimes with dark red or rust colored patches. It ripens in winter, from November to March. In Italy, it grows most commonly in Umbria, Abruzzo, Marche, Toscana, Lazio, and as well as in Veneto, Piedmonte and Liguria.
-Summer –
Availability: June-Sept.
•The most plentifully harvested truffle
The fruity body ranges from the size of a hazelnut to that of an orange. The skin is black. The odor is pleasant and delicate, resembling that of hazelnuts. The main period for ripening runs from June to September.  This truffle is commonly found in Europe, and in Italy, or wherever there is limestone terrain.
b) Tuber Uncinatum Chatin. (Burgundy)
Availability: Sept.-Dec.
•Similar to Tuber Aestivum with more pleasing and intense odor
The name of this truffle is derived from its hook shaped spores. The fruity body is large and ranges from the size of an egg to that of an orange, but at times even larger than 10 cm in diameter. The skin is black.  Its odor resembles that of a hazelnut .  It ripens all year round but mostly from September to December. In Italy, it is found most frequently in central and northern zones.
White Truffles
Tuber Magnatum Pico Vitt. (White Alba)
Availability: Oct. – Dec.
•The most prized among the edible truffles.
The fruity body is usually a lobed, spherical or oval shape. These truffles can be as small as peas or as large as potatoes, and can weigh up to a kilogram. The skin is smooth and of an ochre-yellow or olive-yellow color, and can sometimes exhibit a rusty brown cracked area or bright red spots. The ripening period runs from September to December. White Alba Truffles are found principally in Emilia Romagna, Piemonte, Marche, Molise and occasionally in Lombardia, & Veneto.
-Spring –
Tuber Borchi Vitt. (Bianchetto)
Availability: Jan.-April
The various Italian names attributed to this truffle are due to its color, the period in which it ripens and the habitat in which it is found. The fruity body is small to medium sized, ranging from the size of a pea to that of an apricot. The skin is smooth, variable in color, ranging from ochre-yellow to rust-brown or orange brown, and is often spotted. The period for ripening runs from January to April. It can be found in all areas of Italy in markedly diverse environmental conditions.
*All truffle varieties named after the scientists who classified them:
Pico, Vittadini & Chatin.
Fresh Truffle Storage and Handling
After buying fresh truffles, your precious purchase should be cleaned of any earth by rubbing it gently with a small brush, such as a toothbrush, under running water.  Fresh truffles are living, delicate organisms that must be consumed as soon as possible as they tend to dehydrate (at room temperature they lose 1-2% of their weight every day) and lose their scent.
To properly store your truffle, before or in between uses, wrap it in a dry paper towel, which you should change every day.  Then place the truffle in a glass jar, close tightly and store in the least cool part of the refrigerator somewhere between 39-46 degrees Fahrenheit.
This storage method guarantees the quality of a prized white truffle will stay for at least a week and that of a black truffle for two weeks.
Our Producers: Appennino Funghi e Tartufi
For almost 20 years, Appennino Funghi e Tartufi has been in the truffle business, selling fresh mushrooms and truffles. Their care when selecting and processing the raw materials, their love and respect for the land, and their passion and ex-perience in the food world, have lead to the establishment of their world re-nowned truffle laboratory. Today Appennino Funghi e Tartufi has become an es-sential point of reference for the food industry as well as for the finest restaurants in Italy and throughout the world.
Luigi Dattilo, the founder and President of Appennino, started when he was just a boy, searching for these amazing tubers. On his 18th birthday, when all his friends had saved up for their first car, as most Italian boys do, Luigi took his savings and bought a dog. His first truffle dog. Now, over 20 years later, he has the second largest, and most highly regarded, quality truffle and mushroom company in Italy as well as subsidiaries in many picking countries, and exports to 4 continents of only the highest of quality fresh and preserved truffle and mushroom products.