QUARK Fresh Cheese

• porcijos: 2 - 2-2/3 cups

Ingredientai

8-1/2 cups / 2L buttermilk

Nurodymai

Preheat the oven to 150°F/65°C. Pour the buttermilk into a large baking pan and cover tightly with aluminum foil.

Place the baking pan in the oven and bake for 8 to 12 hours. When the buttermilk is ready to drain, the solids will have separated from the whey, either in soft clumps or in one uniform mass.

Place a fine-mesh sieve over a large pot and line the sieve with cheeseclot. Remove the pan from the oven, discard the foil, and pour the contents of the pan into the sieve. Let sit for at least 2 hours and as long as 5 hours, then pick up the corners of the cheesecloth and twist to squeeze out any residual moisture in the Quark. (You can discard the whey or repurpose it in smoothies or other recipes.)

The Quark can be refrigerated in an airtight container for several days or used immediately.

Pastabos

Source: Classic German Cooking, Luisa Weiss

There may be no food more German than Quark, which is a fresh cheese with a decidedly sour flavor and was, according to Tacitus, probably eaten by Germanic tribes at least two thousand years ago. It can be eaten plain, favored with fruit for dessert (page 31), flavored with onions and herbs to be eaten with potatoes (page 33) or potato pancakes, spread on bread for a protein-rich breakfast such as Kräuterquark (page 33), folded into batters for cheesecake, turned into tender dumplings (page 245), or made into delectable fritters (page 34). The importance of Quark to Germans and German food culture cannot be overstated.

It used to be unheard of to find Quark outside of Germany's and Austria's borders. In fact, some Germans that I know love Quark so much that they used to bring it with them when they traveled for fear of going without. But today some American producers make Quark, which you can mail-order or buy in select grocery stores if you live in the United States. And, mercifully, it is quite easy to make your own with buttermilk.

I owe this recipe to blogger Meeta Khurana Wolff's German grandmother-in-law.