Quark

nispero

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Nov 7, 2014
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I love handmade quark, the kind you got on farmers markets and in small wine taverns in Southern Germany and some other European regions, about 20 years ago. This quark was a creamy, near neutral, slightly sour product whith a specific aroma. It was eaten either salty (e.g. mixed with some chives as a side to boiled potatoes) or with some sugar and fruit (as a dessert).
Nowadays it's rather difficult to find handmade quark in Germany. All you get in even the most remote wine taverns is the same industrial, dry and tasteless product, which is cheap in supermarkets. Yes - in the taverns they add herbs and some cream to improve it - but to no avail.

So i was kind of sceptical when i bought some Dominican Quark today (label says: autentico QUARK requeson creamcheese). To my own surprise - this stuff is fantastic! Moist, creamy and with the kind of aroma i missed so long! I nearly emptied the cup this afternoon, which had 1 libra of quark. (Reading the label i found fat and salt content (5%,0.2%) being higher than in the typical German-supermarket product (0.2%,0.04%). The taste is great however - and who cares?).

I did test different kinds of Dominican Mozzarella lately - and was not happy with them. Did you find a nice Mozzarella yet?
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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I haven't eaten quark for some years but I used to like it. They sell it in the UK too. I'll look out for the Dominican variety - where did you buy it?
 

malko

Campesino !! :)
Jan 12, 2013
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Imtresting, never heard of quark. Will try and find some.
Sosua's creamy cheese is good as is their ricotta.
As for mozzarella, I substitute with queso de oja ( fresh not the supermarket kind ).
 
Aug 6, 2006
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When I first saw this, I thought of particle physics. Then I thought of the Ferenghi bar owner on DS9.
Now I see it is a German cheese. I wonder how many meanings the word quark has.
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Quark (dairy product) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Quark (pronounced “kvark”) is a type of fresh dairy product, common for the cuisines of German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), northern Europe (Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden), the Netherlands,[1][2][3] Hungary, Israel, of Slavic peoples (e.g. Czechs, Slovaks, Poles, Russians, Ukrainians and Belarusians), and of Ashkenazi Jews. It is made by warming soured milk until the desired degree of coagulation (denaturation, curdling) of milk proteins is met, and then strained.[4] It can be classified as fresh acid-set cheese,[5] though in some countries it is traditionally considered a distinct fermented milk product.[6] Traditional quark is made without rennet; however in some modern dairies rennet is added.[7] It is soft, white and unaged, and usually has no salt added.
Dictionaries usually translate it as curd cheese, cottage cheese or sometimes farmer cheese. In Germany, quark and cottage cheese are considered to be different types of fresh cheese, while in Eastern Europe cottage cheese is usually viewed as a type of quark (e.g. Russian for cottage cheese is зернёный творог, literally "grainy quark").
Quark can be compared to French fromage frais, Indian paneer, and to queso fresco made in the Iberian Peninsula and in some Latin American countries. It is distinct from Italian ricotta because ricotta (Italian: "recooked") is made from scalded whey. It is somewhat similar to yogurt cheeses such as the South Asian chak(k)a, the Arabic labneh, and the Central Asian suzma or kashk, but while these products are obtained by straining yogurt (milk fermented with thermophile bacteria), quark is made from soured milk fermented with mesophile bacteria.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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i guess you must be talking about this cheese:

riar2b.jpg


can you post data of the producer? i have seen this product and this brand but never bought it. i make my own quark cheese, from scratch. but why work if i can be lazy?
 

Chirimoya

Well-known member
Dec 9, 2002
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Elite brand dairy products can be found in the big supermarkets. I've bought their yogurts, sour cream and ricotta but I'd never noticed the quark. I just need to look more closely.
 

donP

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Dec 14, 2008
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Quark for Tsaziki

can you post data of the producer?

It just says "Fabricado por COLONIA INDUSTRIAL" (SD), no phone number, no website given.
We buy it a lot, making 'Tsaziki' from it.

donP
 

windeguy

Platinum
Jul 10, 2004
42,211
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When I first saw this, I thought of particle physics. Then I thought of the Ferenghi bar owner on DS9.
Now I see it is a German cheese. I wonder how many meanings the word quark has.

"You and me both", so to speak. Never heard of quark as a food item. Where was this?
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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Dv8 where do you get your culture? Quark culture? It lookdbeady to make but I don't have tje culture ingredient.

in poland this cheese is called twar?g. the process of preparation is very simple and does not require cheese culture.

pour the milk in a large pot. cover lightly with a lid, you can also use a cloth like fabric nappy. leave in room temperature until the milk is sour and separates. put the pot on low fire. the temperature needs to be low enough for you to be able to touch the pot. bring the milk on the verge of boiling, it cannot start boiling, you need to wait until bubbles form. turn off the stove. leave the milk to cool down. when cool, use a ladle to spoon soft white cheese from the pot to the sieve with a piece of cloth inside. when done, gently squeeze remaining water from the cheese and let rest for an hour or soon the sieve so that it dries up.

it is important that milk is full fat. in DR you can purchase this type of milk in some barrios. a truck with a barrel full of milk, being sold by a ladle. how safe is that to use? well, the milk reaches high temperature for quite a while so i assume it's ok.

few notes:
the taste of quark will depend on when you make it, if it is made the same day the milk cut it will be sweeter, if it it done later it will be more sour;
on the top of sour milk a thick film of yellow cream will form. this can be scooped out and used as cream in cooking or you can also make butter out of it. i leave it in as it makes the cheese tastier;
the water left after the cheese is cooked is called whey, it is very high in protein, can be used in making shakes, you can also give it to your dogs (we do).

i am sure that the recipe for this cheese differs slightly from country to country. in some places the milk will be sieved after cutting,without boiling. other people will add cream, yogurt, kefir, buttermilk and other milk products. but above is how i make mine. i learnt this method from my mom.
 

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
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no problemo.

it terms of decent dominican cheeses i can recommend two companies local to the NC: lupa and la zarina. i believe they might have started as one company and then separate when owners decided to part their ways. they both make fresh mozzarella, both yellow cheese type and soft white balls in water. whatever those are formally called. recently i also tried butter from la zarina and hell, it's refreshing to see the list of ingredients: crema de leche. nothing more.

la zarina also makes other cheeses like burrata, cheddar, danes, queso de hoja, pasteggio, ricotta and even mascarpone. as wellas yogurts and cream.
 

james

Active member
Jan 14, 2002
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Now a month or more and still NO (cottage cheese of any type... No fat, low fat, or 4% fat) or QUARK in Sosua or Puerto Plata and seems anyone working in Playero or La Serena, Polo or elsewhere has any idea or care why but only say they guess the places that ship these items to them are out of them.

If anyone sees either of these products in Sosua, POP, Santiago, Sdgo or elsewhere please let me know...it is very important. Thank you.
 
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