Little school of truffle

Truffles and truffle products are a matter of trust. In the world we find more than 200 different sorts of truffles. Many of them are not eatable and even of the eatable ones only a few are really interesting. They differ in price as they do in taste and of course in their dissemination. Carta Magna only handles truffles from Italy because they are better than the same varieties from other countries. They are simply more intense in smell and taste. We distribute our range of truffle products like truffle oil, truffle butter, truffle honey or truffle salami and others only in premium quality. Many superb products in various packaging are at your disposal.

According to our high ethics charter which we posed under the control and management of Reiner Maus in our truffle products one finds exactly and only that type of tuffle which is mentioned on the label. We never produce with cheap junk truffles like Chinese truffles (Tuber indicum) from China or Afghanistan. These truffles are boring and tasteless and do simply not comply with our imagination of high quality.

Tuber Magnatum Pico
The "White Alba Truffle", also called "White Piedmont-Truffle" is the most expensive of all truffles. Like some other truffles she has been classified and described first in a scientific manner by the Italian doctor Pico. She can get the size of a big fist or more. The biggest exemplar ever found had a weight of more than 1 kilo! The inside of this truffle varies in color. Tuber Magnatum lives in symbiosis with various plants. The host as well as the type of soil influence the orientation of color. Varities are from whitish and cream-colored till red-brown nuances. The consistency of fresh Alba truffle is solid and compact as well as medium strong marbled. The smell is of penetrating intensity. Its season starts on September 10 and officially ends on December 31. Appearance in various regions of northern Italy, but also in Périgord and Drôme in France. Small appearance with less quality also in Slovenia and in Spain. Shelf life is only about a week.

Tuber Melanosporum
The "Black Truffle" is also called "Pregiato di Norcia", in France she is known as "Black Périgord truffle". Official season is from November 15 till March 15. Her shape is rounded and the outside is totally black. The very dark flesh of fruit got a purple touch and is marbled by very fine veins. The fine grain of the pulp reminds of grated cheese and is quite unique with all truffles. The surface of Périgord truffle presents a knobs structure. The truffle mostly is as big as a mandarine but she can also reach up to 1 kilo. Tuber Melanosporum smells a bit fungal with a fine overtone of eucalyptus. Like most kinds of truffles she is searching the symbiosis to plants as oak, walnut and broom. Appearance in middle and southern France almost everywhere between the alps and the sea. In Italy from the North to the Abruzzo, a little bit in Spain, in former Jugoslawia, Albania, Hungaria and Poland. Shelf life up to 14 days. Definitely our favourite!

Tuber Albidium Pico
Also named "Bianchetto", "March truffle" or "Whitish truffle". Season from January till mid April. From outside similar to white Alba truffle. The marbling is explicitly coarser and the touch of the truffle is softer. Skin creamwhite, erratic and rather plain. Tasts like very ripe Alba truffle but less intense. Depending on the type of soil brighter or darker by color. When originating from Maremma inside mostly of a deep brown. This truffle has no evaginations. Among the less expensive sorts of truffles Albidium are for sure the best, full of character and flavor. Very versatile in the kitchen. Appearance like Tuber Magnatum. Malicious gossip has it that March truffle often get sold as Alba truffle. In reality that will happen very seldom as the season of March truffle starts weeks after season for Alba truffle ended. Shelf life about ten days. A beautiful gift of nature!

Tuber Aestivum
Summer truffle season starts when no other truffle comes on the market: From June 1 till end of November. Appears in many Italian regions but also almost everywhere in southern Europe, even in southern Germany and in England. The smell is earthy and only a bit fungal but not really truffled like the smell of Alba or Périgord truffle. The color of the flesh of fruit varies from brighter brown tones. Marbling fine to middle fine. Dark brown to black skin which feels pretty hard or leathery. Among the eatable truffles summer truffle is the most easy and also the cheapest variety. Shelf life up to 10 days.

Tuber Uncinatum
Similar to summer truffle, ripens from October till end of December. The flesh of fruit of this truffle is red-brown, the smell is powerful but also less "truffled" but more fungal like for example the smell of cep. Irregular shape, skin dark brown and warty. The skin shows a hook-shaped structure. Tuber Uncinatum is offered very often in Italy but by quality she stays far behind stars like Périgord truffle. Nontheless it always looks nice if truffle flakes are spread generously over the plate. But also this truffle does not show up with what connaisseurs call "truffled". Shelf life up to 10 days.

Tuber Brumale
or winter truffle. Season from January till March. Appearance similar to Tuber Melanosporum, also grows in colder regions. Also appears in France, Spain and Slovenia. The skin varies from dark brown to black and is covered with small knobs. The flesh of fruit is grey to dark grey with a strong marbling. Also this winter truffle is by far less full of character than Périgord truffle. Thus her fielding in the kitchen is more claptrap than art of cooking. Shelf life up to 10 days.

Tuber Indicum
or Chinese truffle. Easy to mistake with Tuber Melanosporum. The skin of this truffle is black with a touch of dark red or dark brown, plainer and especially thinner than with Melanosporum. The flesh of fruit is black with middel strong marbling. The consistency of this truffle is rather hard or like rubber or leathery. Since decades Chinese truffles are imported to France in tons. Import to Italy is forbidden because gangsters like cheating with these worthless wannabee-truffles. Too often they have been sold as Tuber Melanosporum although their quality is so much more worse. Grows from October till March with appearance in the deeper spurs around then Himalaya. The true worth of carrion-truffle N° 1 for the good cuisine inclines towards zero.

How to store truffles correctly
did even not get totally around chefs. Astonishing. Fresh truffles should never and under no circumstances be kept in rice. It might be that the rice later will taste very nice, but rice extracs too much moisture from the truffle. Truffle should be placed in a airtight box with a bottom of kitchen paper. Place as much kitchen paper as necessary for absorbing the moisture which sweats out naturally from the truffle. So it is better to have too little instead of too much kitchen paper.

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