The truffle calendar
There's one thing you learn walking through the woods of Molise from childhood: nature doesn't rush. Truffles grow when the earth allows it – in the silent meeting between the roots of symbiotic plants, the right rains, and the humidity rising from the undergrowth in the coldest hours of the night. You can't rush it. You can't force it. You can only wait, and know where to look.
For us at Dast Truffle, this awareness is everything. It's why we don't sell fresh truffles when the season is closed, and why, when the time is right, what you find on our pages is truly worth the price it carries.
What follows is our calendar: five truffles, four seasons, an entire year lived with our feet in the woods.
January – April: the Bianchetto opens the year
Bianchetto Truffle (Marzuolo) — Tuber borchii
Harvest period: January 15 – April 30
While the woods still seem asleep, something under the surface has already begun to stir. The Bianchetto – also called Marzuolo for the month in which it reaches its peak – is the truffle that inaugurates the year, the first messenger of the awakening earth.
Its aroma is distinct, garlicky, unmistakable. It's not the delicacy of the Precious White or the roundness of the Winter Black: it's a scent that fills the room, telling of a cold season that hasn't quite ended yet. The January and February rains, followed by the first warm days of March, create perfect conditions in the clay soils of the hills and the sandier ones near pine forests.
In the kitchen, it lends itself well to simple preparations: buttered pasta, poached eggs, fresh cheeses. Something that allows the aroma space without stifling it.
June – November: the Scorzone, the everyday truffle
Scorzone Truffle (Summer Black) — Tuber aestivum
Harvest period: June 1 – November 30
When the Bianchetto bids farewell and the woods enter their long May silence, the Scorzone arrives. And it's a generous presence: its harvest window is the longest of the entire calendar, from June until the end of November, spanning summer and accompanying autumn.
Its scent is gentle — hints of hazelnut, mushroom, a discreet presence that doesn't overpower but enhances. It's the truffle of elegant everyday life, the one that transforms a Tuesday night risotto into something worth remembering. It's also the natural base for our oils and sauces, because its long season allows for constant and careful processing.
The Scorzone is often the first experience for those approaching the world of truffles: it's accessible, versatile, honest in flavor. It never disappoints.
October – December: the greats enter the scene
Precious White Truffle — Tuber magnatum Pico
Harvest period: October 1 – December 31
Autumn has a precise moment when something changes in the air. The first real rains soak the Molise hills, the temperature drops at night, the woods smell of damp earth and leaves. It is then that the Precious White begins its maturation.
The Tuber magnatum is the prince of truffles — the rarest, the most sought after, the one our grandparents described in hushed tones. Its peak quality arrives between November and December, when soil moisture and still mild temperatures allow the truffle to develop its aroma to the fullest: intense, almost narcotic, capable of filling an entire kitchen with just a few grams grated over a warm dish.
It should be served raw, in thin slices, on simple preparations that don't compete with it: buttered tagliolini, fried eggs, a nearly dry risotto. It is the protagonist — the rest is just the stage.
The season is short. When it's there, it's the moment.
Uncinato Truffle — Tuber uncinatum
Harvest period: October 1 – December 31
The Uncinato comes into play as the Scorzone approaches the end of its cycle, sharing the weeks of October and November with it in an overlap that challenges even the most experienced foragers.
Botanically, it is considered by recent systematics to be an autumn ecotype of the Scorzone itself, but those who know them can distinguish them: the gleba of the Uncinato is chocolate brown, darker, and its aroma is rounder and more pronounced, with a complexity that grows in the weeks of full maturation. It is the black truffle of deep autumn, the natural companion of seasonal dishes — pumpkin, porcini mushrooms, aged cheeses, risottos that taste of Sunday.
November – March: the Precious Black closes the circle
Precious Black Truffle — Tuber melanosporum
Harvest period: November 15 – March 15
The Precious Black truffle is the truffle of frosts. It grows when others rest, reaches full maturity in the coldest months of the year, and brings to December and January tables a dark and persistent elegance that no other ingredient can replicate.
Unlike the Precious White – which should be savored raw – the Precious Black withstands heat, enriches cooking bases, and integrates into sauces without dissipating. An egg en cocotte with a few slices, veal that has rested with grated black truffle in butter, bruschetta with pâté warmed in a pan: this is true winter cooking, the kind that truly warms you.
Its harvest window – from November 15 to March 15 – covers the festive months and the heart of winter. It's the truffle that accompanies Christmas lunches, New Year's Eve dinners, and February Saturdays when it gets dark early outside and the kitchen becomes the most beautiful place in the house.
What is the best time for truffles?
It depends on what you're looking for.
If it's the rarest and most intense aroma there is, the one that transforms a Christmas lunch into a memory, then October and November are your months, and the Precious White is your choice. If it's the enveloping roundness of an ingredient that warms winter, the Precious Black awaits you from November to March. If it's the everyday elegance of a summer risotto or a condiment to keep in the pantry, the Scorzone accompanies you from June to November. And if you feel spring arriving, the Bianchetto brings with it all the scent of a season that begins anew.
Every season has its truffle. And every truffle, here in Molise, has a story to tell – you just need to know when to listen.