"To wake up together with the fragrance of a good coffee, then, when it's still dark outside, move out together with your dogs and feel the frenzy of the the truffle hunting, with the great hope it's gonna be a good day. You don't feel no more sleep after you enter in the first ditch, while you walk and live moment by moment all the noises and ustles of the forest, the good smell of moss and of the humid earth; you feel with your face the wetness of the fog, whilst you tread gently on the oak and poplar leaves, made crunchy by the morning frost. Then your heart starts beating at a great rhythm, your dog pulls you towards a particular point, you start to hope it's the right place; you search with passion, you look with attention helping your dog then you start to dig. You don't rely on your eyes, you feel it from the smell of the earth that enters slowly your veins; in that moment you would istinctively kiss your dog that is proudly awaiting for a prize. Unique and real sensations that you try to transmit together with your truffles, considering that, together with them, you offer a part of your experience".
White
Truffle Hunter Paolo Ciccioli
Paolo is a real passionate truffle hunter. Differently from many who buy and sell truffles from all regions of Italy and of the world, Paolo has his own dogs and goes personally in the best and hidden places in search of this precious tuber. He respects the seasons, the rythm of growth and the best excavation techniques. Paolo offers its precious products directly to the clients, with the maximum of reliability and attention paid to the quality of the truffle itself. Without any intermediary, Paolo's truffles arrive fresh and integral on the table of restaurants, gourmets and all the other clients
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White
Truffle Tuber Magnatum Pico
It has a spherical aspect, with numerous depressions on the peridium
that makes it irregular. The external surface is smooth and lightly
velvety. It’s colour varies from pale ochre to dark cream or greenish.
It’s flesh or “ gleba” is unmistakable and it’s white and yellow-greyish
with a tenuous white veining. The pleasant and aromatic fragrance, very
different from the garlic-smell of the other truffles, makes this truffle
unique in its genus. It lives in symbiosis with oak-trees, lime-trees,
poplars and willow-trees and rarely you can find it next to other truffles.
The white truffle, to grow and to develop itself, needs a soil with
particular climatic conditions : the ground has to be soft and humid
for the major part of the year, it must have plenty of calcium and needs
a good circulation of air. Therefore it’s evident that not all soils
have these characteristics and so these environmental factors make the
white truffle a rare and desired fruit. The picking is allowed from
September to December.
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.jpg "Truffle Marche Italy")
Black
Truffle Tuber Melanosporum Vitt. (Tartufo nero Pregiato)
The valuable black truffle, the TUBER MELANOSPORUM VITT,
known as the truffle from Norcia, from Spoleto and, by the french, as
truffle de Perigord, has an homogeneous and round shape with polygonal
warts. The brown and blackish surface becomes, after touching it , red
with rust-coloured shades. It’s flesh or “gleba” is light, it’s fragrance
is intense, aromatic and fruity. It grows on hilly and mountain areas
in symbiosis with stones, oaks and ash trees. After, the white truffles,
the black ones are considered the most valuable and are actors of the
international cuisine. The picking season goes from December to March
. Usually, where the truffles grow, there is a lack of vegetation and
grass is seldom due to the action of the mycelium. It is also possible
to notice the presence of a particular kind of fly, the Anisotoma Cinnamomea,
which deposits its eggs close to the truffles.
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.jpg "Truffle Marche Italy")
The
whitish truffle.>Tuber Albinum Pico (Tartufo bianchetto marzuolo)
The whitish truffle, is known as TUBER BORCHI VITT.
There is a big demand of this kind of truffle in Tuscany, Romagna and
the Marche ,even if its commercial value is lower than white one. The
outward appearance is similar to the Tuber Magnatum, they share an irregular,
smooth and white colour even if they become darker when ripe. Also the
“gleba” at fist white later on becomes dark . What really distinguishes
this kind of truffle from the white ones is the fragrance, at the beginning
it is fine and pleasant but then in a second moment it becomes strong
and garlicky. It grows in calcareous areas especially in conifer woods.
Not only in the inlands of Tuscany, it grows also on the coast line
preferring the pine-woods. The picking season goes from May to December.
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The
summer truffle Tuber Aestivum Vitt. (Tartufo scorzone)
The summer truffle or “scorzone”, known as TUBER AESTIVUM VITT
sometimes reaches remarkable sizes and it looks like the black truffle.
Its surface presents brownish pyramidal warts. It has an intense and
aromatic flavour, but once cut it distinguishes itself from the precious
black truffle since the flesh dos not become dark but yellow. It grows
both in sandy and clayey, woods and piny areas. We can find it easily
in all the woody areas of The Marche. It is well appreciated and it
is used to produce sausages and sauces. The picking season goes from
May to December.
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The
black and smooth black truffle.Tuber Macrosporum Vitt. (Tartufo Nero)
The black and smooth black truffle, is known as TUBER MACROSPORUM
VITT. Even if it is not well known and commercialised it is
very appreciated. It distinguishes itself for its garlicky fragrance
similar to the white truffle and its smooth and warty surface. It grows
in symbiosis with poplars, lime-trees, oaks and hazels like the white
ones.
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The
Bagnoli truffle.Tuber Mesentericum Vitt. (Tartufo nero ordinario)
The Bagnoli truffle, is known as TUBER MESENTERICUM.
It is a kind very similar to the “scorzone” but it distinguishes itself
for its intense flavour of phenol. It is dark and warty and its flesh
is consistent and whitish. It is a well known truffle in the areas of
the “Monte Amiata” and of the “Casentino”, even if it is picked more
for commercial reasons than traditional ones. It grows in symbiosis
with oak trees, beeches, birch trees and hazels and you can find them
in autumn and winter.
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