Most people are familiar with ordering fresh truffles as an addition to their meals in a restaurant setting, but what most people don’t realize is that they can have fresh truffles delivered right to their door. At Sabatino, we always strive to bring the experience and delight of truffles to as many people as we can. 110 years ago, when the company started, we delivered truffles throughout Italy via train, horseback, and bicycle. Today, thanks to modern technology, we can deliver to the world much more easily.
The first thing to consider when you’re purchasing truffles is whether you would like fresh truffles, preserved truffles or a truffle product. We have put together guides to help you understand the differences between fresh truffles, preserved truffle items, and our other truffle products.
For argument’s sake, we will focus on fresh truffles. At Sabatino, we offer Black Winter Truffles, White Winter Truffles, Burgundy Truffles and Black Summer Truffles during the seasons when each type of truffle is available. For reference, you can check out our guide to Fresh Truffles HERE.
When shopping for fresh truffles, if possible, it’s ideal to see, touch, and smell your fresh truffles. First, by visually examining your truffles, you’ll be looking for a nicely textured surface to your truffles, as well as a relatively clean appearance, demonstrating that the seller has taken good care to remove any excess dirt from the truffle prior to sale.
When it comes to touch, the truffle should be firm to the touch with close to no give. If the truffle seems to be soft at all, chances are likely that it is no longer fresh or should be used soon after your purchase. Lastly, smell is one of the most important factors to consider when purchasing your truffles. Truffles are renowned for their deep, earthy, and complex aromas. While those aromas are best unlocked by lightly shaving or grating your truffles, when assessing your truffles for purchase, the whole truffles should exude a deep, rich, earthy, almost musky aroma.
Now when purchasing truffles online, assessing quality is considerably tougher since you can’t see, feel, and smell the product. At Sabatino, we handle all of that for you. As truffle experts, we ensure every single truffle we ship to you is in pristine condition. Every day, as we receive new shipments of truffles, we hand sort each truffle taking care to assess the condition of each individual truffle. Over 90% of our truffles arrive in pristine condition and we take great care to ensure that we maintain and deliver the truffles to you in the same condition.
When you order truffles from our online store we carefully select the best truffles available, then wrap them in moisture absorbent towels. From the time truffles are pulled from the ground, they begin losing moisture slowly. The towels help to absorb the moisture and keep the truffles nice and firm. Next, we vacuum seal the truffles and package each shipment with ice packs to keep the truffles perfectly chilled during their overnight journey to you. Upon arrival, we recommend that you unpack the truffles right away. You should find that the truffles are still firm, fragrant, and ready to be enjoyed.
If you are not using the truffles right away, we recommend wrapping the truffles in fresh paper towels and storing them in a sealed container in your refrigerator until you are ready to use them. Generally speaking, your truffles should be used within a week, but for best results we recommend using your truffles within 2 to 3 days.
For more tips, tricks, and recipes, be sure to check out our TRUFFLEPEDIA BLOG and RECIPES PAGE. We’ve taken the time to pack each section of our site chock full of mouthwatering recipes and expert guides to help look and feel like a pro when serving truffles.
We hope this guide to buying fresh truffles is helpful for you. If you have any questions, feel free to contact us at customer@sabatinostore.com.
