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The product
Which truffles grow in the Marsica
Underground fungi living in symbiosis with tree roots.
The truffle is a fungus that grows underground, in symbiosis with the roots of oaks, hornbeams, hazels and poplars. In the Marsica you mainly find the prized white truffle (Tuber magnatum), the prized black truffle (Tuber melanosporum) and the scorzone or summer black truffle (Tuber aestivum).
Once it was only found wild in the woods; today, alongside natural truffle grounds, there are also cultivated ones tended by small local hunters.
Territory
Where it comes from
The Marsica is the western part of the province of L’Aquila, around the Fucino plain. The valleys of Sante Marie (Valle Santa Giusta and Valle dei Cerri) are known for white truffles; the large Valle di Luppa also for summer scorzone. Truffles are also found in the woods around Tagliacozzo, Carsoli and the Valle Roveto.
- Avezzano
- Tagliacozzo
- Sante Marie
- Carsoli
From field to table
How it is made
- The truffle hunter goes into the woods with a trained dog, which sniffs out ripe truffles underground.
- When the dog points, the truffle is dug out by hand with a small spade, disturbing the soil as little as possible.
- The hole must be filled in straight away so as not to damage the truffle ground.
- Each species has its own season, set by the Region: scorzone in summer, white in autumn, prized black in winter.
- The truffle is brushed clean of soil and taken fresh to market: it lasts only a few days.
In the kitchen
How to use it
Truffles are at their best raw, thinly shaved over simple, hot dishes.
- Fettuccine with porcini mushrooms and truffle
- Fresh egg with truffle, fried or scrambled
- Tagliatelle or spaghetti alla chitarra with butter or oil and black truffle
- Meat carpaccio, risottos and crostini with scorzone
Tips
How to choose and store it
- Fresh truffles should be eaten within a few days: keep them in the fridge, wrapped in kitchen paper changed daily, in a closed jar.
- Do not wash them: clean them with a small brush and a damp cloth just before use.
- Shave them raw with a truffle slicer onto the hot dish.
- White truffles are never cooked; black ones can take brief cooking.
Careful: buy fresh truffles from licensed hunters and sellers, and be wary of cheap «truffle» products, often artificially flavoured.
Ordering
Where to buy it and whom to contact
Contacts checked on the official websites in October 2026: check availability and prices before ordering.
Associazione Tartufai della Marsica (A.T.M.)
The Marsica truffle hunters’ association, based in Avezzano: it can point you to licensed hunters and sellers in the area.
- Email: associazione.atm@gmail.com
- Address: Avezzano (AQ)
- Source: Associazione Nazionale Città del Tartufo
Pro Loco di Sante Marie
It organises the Sante Marie truffle festival, in one of the Marsica’s white truffle villages.
- Phone: 0863 679151
- Email: prolocodisantemarie@gmail.com
- Address: Piazza Aldo Moro, 1 – 67067 Sante Marie (AQ)
- Source: Associazione Nazionale Città del Tartufo
Gallery
Photos
Tap a photo to enlarge it.
Photo 1: summer black truffle (scorzone) from the Marsica. Credits: Marica Massaro (CC BY-SA 4.0), via Wikimedia Commons, resized; the menu icon is also made from it.
Tradition
History and trivia
In the Marsica truffle hunting is an old tradition, handed down with the dogs from one generation to the next. Regional law 66 of 2012 now regulates the hunting, sale and protection of truffles in Abruzzo.
To protect truffle grounds from unlicensed hunters, the Associazione Tartufai della Marsica was founded in Avezzano and now has hundreds of members. In Italy truffle hunting and extraction has been recognised by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since 2021.
Did you know? in Sante Marie, one of the Marsica’s white truffle villages, truffles also go with fresh eggs and chestnut desserts.