“German Proteins“
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I’ve had Quark twice (one time making a disgusting quiche) and thought it tasted exactly like cottage cheese. Good to know the difference and thanks for the information.
One fourth (1/4) of our “yogurt” section is literally just Quark in different ways, some with added protein for “proteinquark”. Some plain, some sweetened with sugar or artificial sweeteners. Huge market nowadays.
Cheers Finland.
Yeah, “Proteinquark” is around in Germany too. It’s kind of pointless because Quark itself is very protein rich, but of course “mahhh proteiiinz” is a big market nowadays :).
I don’t remember Quark from Finland (lived 7 months in Oulu) but I’ll check next time I’m there to see how it compares.
How do you call it though? Quark?
TIL Quark is not curd and yet I am using it like curd for a year
Well, they have a lot in common. It’s just that not everything people call “curd” would qualify as “Quark” :)
We have ‘izvara’ in Bulgaria which I believe is pretty much the same thing. And then you have ‘sirene’ which is very similar to feta cheese which is the harder version
My girlfriend is Bulgarian and she never mentioned “izvara”… I need to confront her :)
Ohh I love Quark! Ate alot of this in Germany when I was there. I have never found anything like it here in Canada. But it sounds easy enough to make!
Great article, which I shared with my non-German learning grown-up children, who are into health and make your own. Many thanks
But I think linseed oil would definitely taste better than oil made from linen (cotton sheets)!
Ops, yup… that’s what I meant :D
Ha ha,l thought the some
Mein (Deutscher) Mann kann nicht leben ohne Quark! Es gibt kein in Schottland…
I live in Indiana, about an hour from Chicago. I’ve always known about Quark from my mother and grandmother, and later in many visits to relatives in Germany. Last year I was thrilled to find it at our local Aldi, but it was a 1 time fluke. It’s used in a coffee cake too.
I live in Switzerland and we have quark here- of course. I really like it and we use it like sour cream. I have even heard that they put it on woulds to assist in healing!
Yup, it’s a common house remedy for a number of illnesses. Muscle stuff but also colds and inflammations. And it’s good for the skin.
Hey Emanuel this was fun! First time I write here: so my first recollection of Quark is from the book Christiane F.! I was VERY young and I remember they mentioned eating this thing and I had to look it up, but still did not quite understand what it was… you are right I don’t think it would sell in Italy – not in Tuscany where I come from for sure ;) but then … I got to know it and it is great and makes fantastic cheesecake! Apologies for writing in English … in der Zukunft werde ich hier nur Deutsch schreiben – versprochen!
Unfortunately my gastroenterologist told me to stay away from milk products due to my digestive issues, and it has helped a lot to do so. Due to aging ( I am 76) and lack of strength training I continue to loose muscle exponentially, so I look forward to any other suggestions not involving dairy. The obvious one of using the weighs and bands I bought to try to build some strength would work if I could have a transplant of your Teutonic discipline gene.
You should really try the Japanese Kaizen method!! It’s about incremental step with a very low hurdle.
Like… day 1):
Your task is to put on gym clothes and stand next to your bands and weights for a minute. If you wanna hold them or do a curl, fine, but that’s optional.
Do that everyday for a few days and you’ll see yourself working out for a couple of minutes. Then, you can plan to do one proper set of something and so on… tiny steps, that you don’t fail at because they’re sooo easy. I think it’s REALLY effective!
We are can get Quark in Canada but i have never tried it but maybe i will now. I have made my own ricotta which is just add lemon juice to milk and separate out the curds. Same thing! BTW it was great and much better than store bought.
Yes, we have Quark in South Brazil. Made by, well… Germans, of course.
Is it common enough to be in supermarkets?
In Schweden essen die Schweden „Kvarg“. Ich vermute Kvarg und Quark sind die gleichen Sachen.
Meiner Meinung nach, sind beide kalte, weiße, flüssige Milchprodukte und ich würde mich lieber mit einer Nachtischgabel in den linken Oberschenkel stechen, als ein Milchprodukt essen, das kein Käse ist.
Deshalb kann ich nicht mit Sicherheit sagen, ob Kvarg und Quark sind die gleiche Sachen. Aber, ist mir egal.
Das ist auch wie man paneer “Käse” herstellt: Milch mit einem säuren Mittel wie Zitrone oder Essig kochen, die resultierenden “Stückchen” sammeln und in einem Tuch ausdrücken.
Ah, der Unterschied ist, dass man für Quark nicht kocht. ich glaube für Riccota kocht man ein bisschen. Puh…. so viele Möglichkeiten :)
Thanks for the interesting cultural post!
Kein Quark hier in Kamerun — und das ist keine Überraschung.
Since I already make my own yoghurt and it’s easy to sour milk here in the heat, I think it’d be easy enough to make based on your description. But I think I’d like to taste the real German Quark beforehand so that I’d know what to aim for in terms of taste and texture. :)
In Dänemark hanen wir Quark und es (er ? oder sie ?) ist sehr gegessen !
“er” wird sehr gern gegessen :)
Absolutely try and make some.
What about dairy products there in general? Do people eat a lot of it?
I live in Canada. One of my cousins in Germany loves Quark, eats it all the time, and is healthy as a healthy horse. I took one look at it and thought it looked disgusting and was having none of it. It reminded me of a dish my father, (from Germany) used to love, and that was butter milk with chunks of white bread and sugar. I thought that was disgusting too! But having read this article, and being older and perhaps a wee bit wiser these days, I shall give Quark a try next time I’m in Germany. I shall then let you all know about this newbie’s impressions! Love these articles … talk about a quirky way to inspire one’s appreciation for all things German … just great!! Keep it up!!
Definitely try it. I feel like the chewy cheese you use for Putin… erm… Poutine is a dry version of Quark (though made with rennet, not lacto bacteria). Thanks for the great feedback :)
When I was a student in Oxford (UK) I pretty much lived on quark sandwiches. Cheap and good for you too! Thanks for the new recipe ideas.
Be careful about mentioning “humble” in an article about food. “‘Umble pie” is literally pie full of umbles (intestines) so the Engilish phrase “To eat humble pie” means to accede to an inferior position in the debate. To admit that one was wrong.
Oh wow… a bit random but I just noticed that there might be a connection to umbilical chord.