Guide for Buying The Best Truffle Online

In this post I will focus on the best places on Internet for buying the highest quality black and white truffle and related products like truffle oil, pasta, butter etc. online. For me truffles are one of the most delicious fine foods in the world. Due to their scarcity and near-impossibility to grow and harvest they are also one of world’s most expensive foods.

There are more and more natural truffles and organic, vegan, non-GMO genuine truffle products that you can buy online. But which online stores are the best and which online stores can deliver to your country? What are you buying and from whom? How can you use it for cooking and wich health benefits, if any, does it have? And what about the stories that many truffle oils do not contain truffles at all?

In this post I want to give you some more background so you can find your way in buying fresh truffles and related products online. Since Amazon is by far the largest and best trusted online global store with often worldwide delivery – also for gourmet food nowadays – I will focus on buying truffles and truffle related products through their stores.

In addition I will point you to some other very good online stores which may offer fresh truffles and related products not available on Amazon or having higher ratings than those on Amazon.

How to Buy Truffles and Truffle Products on Amazon

Here is a checklist on how to buy truffles or related products on Amazon:

1. Check out and subscribe to other Amazon stores for other countries than your own
2. Check whether the products you are searching for are labeled ‘Prime’ for fast delivery and lower delivery costs
3. if so, make sure you subscribe to Prime (see below) which gives you those and many more benefits
4. Check how many reviews the products has received; ideally around or more than 50
5. Make sure there are also reviews that are quite recent (e.g. not older than 3 months)
6. First read the bad reviews (no to 2 stars) and then read the best reviews (3.5 stars and higher)
7. Try to identify the fake reviews, if any, and skip these; same for everything 2.5 to 3 stars; mediocre is not what we are looking for.
8. Finally compare the products to similar products on other online sites and decide where to buy them.

Surprisingly, even within the EU itself prices between stores may differ (see example below). So – in addition to Amazon.com where I have been subscribed to since 1998 – I have subscribed to all Amazon stores in the EU: amazon.co.uk, amazon.de (search for ‘trueffel’), amazon.es (search for ‘trufa’), amazon.it (search for ‘tartufo’), and amazon.fr (search for ‘truffe’) etc.

When I cannot find a product or brand I always try out the other country stores. Even if I do not command all the languages to the same degree, clicking on a product I want and filling in a form is identical in all Amazon sites. And easy enough.

Also to keep delivery costs low and ensure fast delivery I check whether they have the lable ‘Amazon Prime’ or not. Many of the products reviewed also are sold under the Amazon Prime programme. If you do not already are a Prime member I would certainly recommend joining if only for benefits like free fast shipping, exclusive shopping deals and selection, and many more. Also – whether true or not I still have to find out – it gives me a more comfortable feeling if it has the Amazon Prime lable behind it.

For the product itself I first look at how recent the reviews are. Reviews should not be older than 3 months for me. Then I read the worst reviews (none to 2 stars). I also try to determine whether there are – and if so which – are fake reviews. I also look at the delivery costs which sometimes are prohibitively high. Then I decide – based on price and delivery cost comparison with other online sites and the 3 to 5 star reviews – whether I am going to buy it or not on Amazon.

I recommend that especially if products from an Amazon Store that you even more carefully read the reviews, click on the Amazon Store link and look at the stars and number of reviews of other products they sell.

Fresh truffles

Buying fresh truffles directly from the producers themselves or local markets in the countries where they are cultivated of course remains the best there is. I am in the lucky circumstance that I leave right in the centre between French black truffle territory in Perigord/Vaucluse and Italian (white) truffle territory in Piedmonte/Tuscany. to buy my fresh truffles I can visit one of the many truffle fairs here in France in Carpentras, Richerenches or Valle de Dordogne.

Or across the border to visit the International Alba White Truffle Fair or – somewhat further away – the truffle market in San Miniato in Tuscany. But for everybody else and since there are not so many other places in the world where you can find truffle growers it is good that we nowadays have the possibility to buy fresh truffles online.

Also fresh truffles are not around all the year. In Europe for the black truffle season this is October to March and especially January and February for the winter truffles to reach their strongest flavour and aroma. There is also the black summer truffle which is cheaper and milder in flavour and aroma and available between May and September. The white truffle the season can start end of September and end up to the end of January.

The good news is that more and more truffles – black and white; summer and winter – are cultivated in other parts of the world. Like the US and Australia. So year-round availability is getting better.

Buying Fresh Truffle Online on Amazon

Due to its Amazon Store program that allows third parties to start their own store on Amazon, there are more and more natural truffles and organic, vegan, non-GMO truffle-related products that you can buy online on Amazon.

With Amazon Stores you are actually not buying from Amazon but via Amazon. So it is good to do some research into the Amazon Stores selling the products.

I will in my posts mainly focus on products with 3.5 stars or higher and having around 50 reviews or more. And ideally they should be deliverable via Prime.

It is immediately apparent that Amazon is not the place to go for fresh truffles. There is not so much on offer. Amazon Stores selling fresh black truffles for the UK are Caviar Classic London, Intergourmandise. Both deliver internationally.

Intergourmandise also appears on the French and Italian Amazon sites, but not on Amazon.com, nor the German, Spanish and other Amazon stores.

Although there is a recently launched mysterious Amazon store with the name ‘Mycelium100‘ which seems to have a promising and large collection of fresh truffles (and other fungi) on several Amazon sites and delivers worldwide. Unlike all other Amazon stores who only sell black truffles, they also show white truffles on their site. But no prices nor reviews (yet), nothing about the seller except for the name Hanna Pryvorotnia.

Also I cannot find other information about Hanna on Internet. Which normally for me would mean a no-go to buy here. But since it says ‘just launched’ let’s come back in a few months and see whether there is more information now.

So, unfortunately you cannot find a lot of information on the Amazon Stores themselves. And it seems some of the names belong to one and the same store. For instance ‘Caviar Classic London’ clicks through to an Amazon Store called ‘Sephar Dad Caviar’.

A search on Google shows this is a company registered in France. However, there is no other ‘About’ information.

Even on the Amazon websites of the countries where most fresh truffles are cultivated and sold – France and Italy – there is not much to be found. Which leads us to the conclusion that Amazon may not be the best place to go to online to buy fresh truffles.

Other Online Sites for Buying Fresh Truffles Online

Online stores in the EU

In Europe we have on Amazon Italy Selektia Tartufi (Italian/English), Laumont Shop (Spanish/French/English) and on Amazon.co.uk TruffleHunter (English). TruffleHunter also has stores on Amazon.fr, Amazon.it, Amazon.de and Amazon.es. Nice and international!

All have the French and Italian black & white truffles (when not out of season) and fast delivery. Worldwide even! But do not forget the delivery costs which can really be high of it is not Prime!

Online stores in the US

Examples of online stores in the US that sell fresh black and white truffles are Gourmetfoodstore and D’Artagnan. They sell black and white truffles from France and Italy when it is the right season. However, for perishable food products fresh truffles delivery outside the US is not possible. This is also due to customs laws according to one of the sites, although I then do not understand why the EU online stores (and Amazon Stores) do not have this issue (except for countries like Australia).

Online stores outside US and EU

In Australia with its sever customs laws it is near to impossible to buy fresh truffles from Italy and France. So the Australians cultivate their own truffles. Like Perigord Truffles of Tasmania.

A great and nicely designed Singapore-based site in Singapore I found and which I do not want to withhold is The Adriatic Pantry. Only one small issue: they deliver only in Singapore. So if you are lucky enough to live there…

Truffle products: watch out for the fakes!

If you are looking for products truffle oils, butters, creams, mustards, salts, pastas or gift sets there are many more sites which can help you. Starting with big Amazon itself.

But here it becomes more difficult since there are many truffle oil and truffle products online and offline that aren’t made with real truffles. It is much harder to find truffle products that are made with genuine truffles. I wrote about that in one of my other posts about black truffels.

Fake truffle products are made from or with chemicals. The aroma an taste is imitated by including a chemical substance which was ‘invented’ around the 1990s. For instance they do that with truffle oil for which olive oil is used infused with chemically synthesised gas. The chemical used  smells very similar to the real stuff. Look it up on Internet. It is called 2,4-Dithiapentane. Maybe after reading about it you will decide only to go for the genuine stuff.

So here is a checklist you can use when you want to buy the real stuff:

1. Truffles are not mushrooms. If the truffle product’s label says it only includes mushrooms, then it is a mushroom product. Truffles are not mushrooms. They even aren’t actually part of the same family as mushrooms.
2. Black truffles have a distinct deep and rich earthy flavor. The taste is deep and rich and the truffles have an earthy aroma. Some people compare the flavor to something in between chocolate and red wine.
3. White truffles don’t taste like black truffles.  Their aroma is more that of ammonia smell. Which may be the reason not everybody really likes their smell. However, the flavor is delicious, full and like garlic.
4. Truffles are expensive . The most expensive black truffles come from the Perigord in France. More and more other countries around the world now also cultivate black truffles which are more affordable. Black truffle products are therefore less expensive. The most expensive white truffles come from Alba in Italy and can’t be found easily in the rest of the world. White truffle products therefore also cost more than black truffle products.
5. So truffle oil and other truffle products are also expensive. Because all real truffle oil should always be made with real truffles. Read the label. Check the ingredients. Make sure it is not made with chemicals. Watch out for wording like ‘truffle flavor’ or ‘natural truffle aroma. If the ingredients don’t say “truffles” specifically, it is most probably a fake truffle product.
6. Look for visible signs of truffle use. For instance the best quality genuine truffle oils include small pieces of (real) truffle in the bottom of every bottle. Fake truffle never has this.

Healthy organic truffle products

For me it then also becomes more important whether the ingredients used, like olive oil which is used to make truffle oil themselves are organic (‘bio’ in Europe), non-GMO, etc. and of high quality. Fresh and probably also dried truffles being the most natural you can nearly get in food. Although also here you have to be sure that no chemical pesticides were used or present in the soil around the truffle trees where they were found.

Much like fungi, such as mushrooms, truffles are filled with antioxidants and flavonoids that can fight disease and boost overall health. So truffles themselves and products made from real truffles and other natural ingredients without any chemical additions are more healthy.

Finding organic or bio truffle oils or other products is more difficult. Amazon helps you to filter on ‘organic’ or non-gmo etc. but not many results show up. Here I really needed to also search in the other Amazon country stores. Here are some truffle products I found that are offered on Amazon and that are ‘organic’ or ‘non-GMO’:

Buying organic genuine truffle products on Amazon

So let us see what is for sale on Amazon and whether we can find truffle products and truffle oils containing real truffles as ingredient and in addition being bio or organic as well!

Many more Amazon Stores offer truffle products. Here two of the better ones I found for genuine truffle products (so not with the fake truffle synthetic aroma):

• TruffleHunter who in general also receive high scores and has many positive reviews
• And Tartuflanghe which is an Italian store offering a fine selection of truffle products

Where can I best buy my truffle oil? I am living in France and am subscribed to all Amazon stores in the EU and UK. I took the offer for both black and white truffle oil from TruffleHunter which I can buy in all stores. see below the results for EU. Also check delivery costs if they can deliver from other Amazon stores to your address. For instance, living in France, I cannot order this in the US, Canada and Italy. But I can do some price comparing between UK, France, Germany and Spain.

All of the above of course is of course just a snapshot of prices today, and you also have to chack delivery costs, but it shows you that some shopping around and comparing prices per Amazon store and subscribing to more than one store can be profitable.

Other sites for buying truffle products online

Most sites offering fresh truffles mentioned above also have a collection of truffle-related products. But of course the idea is to find more boutique-like websites which offer very special and unique bio/organic truffle products. All sites mentioned above offering fresh truffles also offer genuine truffle products.

Truffle Utensils

There are a few tools you need especially for grating or shaving fresh truffles. Here are shavers you can buy on Amazon:

Books on Truffles

One of the books I really enjoyed reading was the History of Truffles (see first book below). But there are many more books to be found on Amazon. Here some more suggestions.

Conclusion

So for fresh truffles still visiting one of the truffle markets in France (for black truffles) or Italy (especially for white truffles) and checking out the merchandise yourself still seems to be the best thing to do. If you do not have the time to do this, the second best is to go online and visit the sites of Gourmetfoodstore or Dartagnan if you live in the US. Or Selektia Tartufi if you live in Europe. But please bear in mind that fresh truffles are very seasonal and only available during short periods. And many online stores do not deliver worldwide.

For all other truffle-related products or learning more about truffles, Amazon is still your best friend. But there are many strong competitors, so some shopping around and visiting other sites may help you in finding the best deal. And finding online sites which offer really unique truffle products adds to the fun of it.

Stay tuned: this post will be regularly updated with new tips about buying online. Subscribe below to the newsletter to receive updates. Also I will be on the look-out for truffles and real truffle oils here in France (Vaucluse, Perigord) and just over the border in the Alba region.

Don’t hesitate to contact me if you would like to order the real stuff directly from me.

Nic