Buy Black Truffle Direct from the Grower
Buy black truffle here direct from the grower in Teruel, Spain: fresh Tuber melanosporum, the winter black truffle, sold by weight and by grade.
Spain is the largest producer of black truffle in the world, at around 120 tonnes a year against roughly 40 in France, and Teruel accounts for about 80 per cent of world production. Around 90 per cent of that harvest is exported fresh to France and re-sold from there, which is why most of the black truffle sold in Europe passes through at least one intermediary before it reaches a kitchen.
This shop takes that step out. Each order is confirmed piece by piece, with the real weight, before anything is paid. There is no basket, because a truffle is not cut to make a round number: the order is made up with the next piece and the final weight is agreed with you.
Fresh black truffle is a seasonal product. It exists for about four months, from December to April, and outside those months only preserved and frozen formats are available. Grades are Extra, First and pieces, and the difference between them is appearance, not aroma.
- Tuber melanosporum from Teruel, harvested in season
- Every piece weighed and confirmed before payment
- Direct from the grower, no intermediary
Fresh black truffle in season
Fresh Black Truffle, in Season December to April
Whole pieces from the current harvest, sold by weight during the four months of the season.
Black Truffle Price per Kilo
Why the price depends on how much you buy and on how much work a piece takes to clean.
Winter Truffle (Tuber Melanosporum)
The species of the winter season, and how it differs from summer truffle.
How to order black truffle
Buy Black Truffles Online, by Weight
How a household order of 50 to 100 grams is placed and confirmed.
Black Truffle Delivery from the Grower
How an order is packed and sent, and why the destination is confirmed before shipping.
Where to Buy Black Truffles: Grower or Intermediary
The route a Spanish truffle usually takes, and how to skip most of it.
Buying in kilos
The grades, and why one costs more than another
Truffle is graded by shape and by the state of the skin, from Extra down to pieces. A grower explains the price gap between grades in terms of labour: a round, whole truffle is cleaned in about two minutes, while an irregular one full of soil can take fifteen. One person cleans thirty of the first kind in an hour and four of the second.
| Extra | Round, whole, with no cosmetic damage. The grade that goes on display in a restaurant and the one that costs most. |
|---|---|
| First | Same quality, slightly irregular shape. Used in kitchens and for preserving. |
| Second | More irregular, pointed, with deformities. Also sold to restaurants, for the kitchen rather than the counter. |
| Pieces | The same truffle, broken during lifting or cleaning. Same aroma, lowest price of the fresh grades. |
When is black truffle in season?
Fresh Tuber melanosporum is harvested from December to April. Outside those four months there is no fresh Spanish black truffle, only preserved and frozen formats.
Is the cheaper grade a worse truffle?
No. The grades separate appearance, not aroma. A restaurant will put an Extra truffle on display and cook with First or Second, which taste the same and cost less. If you are going to grate it, the irregular piece is the sensible buy.
How is an order placed if there is no basket?
You tell us the grade, the approximate weight and the date you need it. We reply with the pieces available and their real weight, and only then is anything paid.
Is this the same species as French black truffle?
Yes. Tuber melanosporum is one species, sold as Périgord truffle in France and as trufa negra in Spain. Most of it is grown in Teruel.
Order black truffle for a date
Tell us the grade, the weight and the day you need it. You get back what is available from the current harvest and what it weighs before you commit. December is the busiest month of the season, so an early request helps.
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