Talk:Quark (dairy product)

message: Quark is commonly used in Germany as well as in the Netherlands and Finland. Although german dairy companies might sell german quark throughout EU, it is not valid and necessary information in this article.
--Arjuna 14:31, 23 May 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Note

message: In German, Quark and Topfen may be used figuratively to mean "nonsense". This usage is believed to be an inspiration for the sentence Three quarks for Muster Mark in James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, which itself inspired the name of quarks, elementary particles of which most of the material world is built. So, like, the whole world is made of soft white cheese? (Unsigned comment by Kpalion)
: Most of it. The Moon is made of green one. -- Naive cynic 15:53, 25 August 2005 (UTC)
replies: text:  An alternative theory (that Joyce's phrase relates to the cries of seabirds, and the word was previously defined in this way in the Oxford English Dictionary) is given here --PeterR 09:08, 27 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The sentence: 'As the large popularity of quark desserts is limited to mainly Germany, confusion might arise when talking about quark with non-Germans.' is nice, because literally with that idiom in german (talking quark = talking nonsense), the meaning is: When speakig nonsense to non-Germans that creates confusion:)  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 131.155.110.214 (talk) 09:50, 23 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: Quarks

message: As a long-time resident of the Black Forest, I can speak authoritatively on Quark, which is a delicious soured whole milk product.  It is made at home by letting whole milk sour and then draining away the whey.  It resembles sour cream, but is soured milk minus the whey.  The Austrians indeed call it "Topfen" or "Pot Cheese"---when in USA I have sought it in vain.  I have looked for substitute for cooking/baking and have most often been referred to Cream Cheese or Ricotta or Mascarpone.  I have also pressed all the liquid our of Cottage Cheese and pressed the curds through a sieve.  
In response to the previous paragraph, what you are describing sounds like what is called Farmers Cheese in the United States.
I am native german speaker and I never heard this expression. If I search google for this term I find cheeses that are based on quark. Mostly used in middle/southern germany. But this is not quark anymore. In my understanding Quark is not Cheese. On the other side "Käsekuchen" is made out of Quark.
Regards Hilmar
:Hilmar, could you please explain it in more detail? If quark is not cheese, then what is it? What is Käsekuchen? Could it be that the term Weißer Käse is used in other German-speaking areas then yours? And if you think you can contribute something meaningful to Wikipedia, then be bold and edit the article yourself! Thanks – Kpalion (talk) 17:39, 3 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not Hilmar, but according to the German Wikipedia it is a Frischkäse, which translates to cream cheese according to LEO]. I just entered the interwiki links between the English and the German pages of this term. The German page lists, among others, Mascarpone and Ricotta as other types of Frischkäse. However, I have to admit that I would call the produce described under cream cheese Streichkäse. BTW, Käsekuchen is a pie, it's called Topfentorte in Austria. Martg76 23:02, 4 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hej, I am from Palatinate (south-western part of Germany). We use both expression but mainly we say Quark to the dairy product you buy in the store and Weisser Käse to a dish we eat with potatoes. It is almost the same but spiced with herbs, salt and pepper. But my grandmother (and many older people) used to say Weisser Käse (White cheese) even to the dairy product you buy in the store (or they made at home). Käsekuchen is just the German word for cheese cake made of Quark. Quark can be used to eat with fruit like mandarines, grapes or whatever, just like yoghurt. Quark can contain everything from 10% to 85% fat and is called different then. Here's a picture how I think Quark is typically sold in Germany  and a recipe in english, how to make your own  Cattleyard 08:34, 15 August 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Weißer Käse

message: some have traditional used it in Germany for sprains and bruises as an ailment.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.242.81.170 (talk) 12:16, 29 January 2017 (UTC)
thread_title: as a medicine

message: "In Austria and Bavaria the name Topfen ("pot cheese") is used instead of Quark" - huh?? supermarkets in Munich sell about 20 different varieties of something called "quark".  What is it exactly?
I'm German and we eat a lot of quark. Technically it is a cheese, but is quite different to other cheeses. It is far moister and softer and must be consumed within an few days after preparation. The huge number of varieties sold in a German shop derive from the fat content: Magerquark contains less than 10 percent fat and then there is quark with 20 or 40 percent fat. Quark is always made with low-fat milk and the cream is added later (sinful and most delicious). Also a number of quarks with different ingredients is sold: herbs (parsley, chives, ramson, shallots, chervil or a mixture of these), garlic, paprika and peppers, cucumbers, olives, radish, horseradish, fruits like strawberries or cherries, chocolate shavings … So I'd say 20 different varieties would be a low estimate.
Quark is called Weißkäse/white cheese in southern Germany and in Austria and Bavaria Topfen. Other names are Luggeleskäs, Bibbeleskäs, Matte … They all mean the same thing – rather like autum/fall.
A very good recipe in English for original German quark without rennet can be found here .
Quark is quite delicious and can be used in a vast number of receipes. As Magerquark is creamy without the cream it is highly recommend when on a diet.--Enka 21:54, 14 September 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Does anybody know what this stuff is?

message: Are we sure that this article should be called "Quark (food)"? All I'm seeing here is cheese, so shouldn't it really be known as "Quark (cheese)"? --Jitterro 04:30, 23 July 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Okay, I've moved the article to "Quark (cheese)" myself. If anyone objects, let me know. --Jitterro 22:19, 17 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Food --> Cheese?

message: I have removed the reference to Israeli cheesemakers labelling quark as Bulgarian Cheese because of its origin.  The only Israeli references/recipes mentioning  Bulgarian Cheese I could find involved "crumbling" the cheese - not possible wifh quark or using it as feta, including and Bulgarian cheese (Israel's answer to feta) Yahoo Travel  barliner 17:43, 27 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: "Bulgarian" or "Balkan" (or simply "White") cheese are all trade names for Feta-type cheese in Germany, some <ahem> one managed to make "Feta" a protected nomination (must be made in Greece or something), I think. --145.253.2.236 (talk) 12:01, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Bulgarian cheese

message: I've edited and adding info to make it clear what this product is. I've also added some sources for it in the US where it is rare and hard to find. Hope this helps clear the puddle. Also, here is a chart showing the relationship to other milk products. Trying to figure out where Quark fits in prompted my translation effort. pschemp | talk 02:09, 7 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Clarification

message: Usually, quark is sold virtually fat-free. E.g. Sainsburys (UK) sells Bavarian Quark which has 0.2% fat, PLUS in Germany sells nearly fat-free quark called Magerquark, so does Tengelmann. Tesco (UK) sells Austrian Quark, which is virtually fat free. I am Bavarian, and I do not know anywhere where original & pure Quark is sold with fat: Fatty versions are usually the flavoured versions that are used for eating on bread or as deserts. Some desert quark versions are sold with added cream. Quark is said to be extremely protein rich (Sainsbury: 12.5% protein), and can be eaten to support muscle gain. 
I believe most supermarkets worldwide sell low-fat versions, which has a higher market share than any other version. In that respect, the Wikipedia entry appears to be incorrect.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 194.24.233.94 (talk) 12:38, 18 February 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: 20 % fat quark lingers besides the Magerquark in my German supermarkets. (Usually in 200 or 250 g instead of 500 g) - the fat is added after production, I think, and you don't buy quark for the fat... --145.253.2.236 (talk) 12:04, 2 June 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  Hi there. No, Quark is NOT virtually fat-free. At least not in Germany. The fat-free stuff is more common in the UK (that's true for Yoghurt as well) - although it's difficult to get Quark there at all. But that is not the original version. I'm from Germany, and I have eaten Quark for all my life. --Urbanplay (talk) 11:00, 19 April 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Fat Free!

message: I presume this is true 'if it is to be sold legally'.  Is that the case? 128.100.110.82 (talk) 16:43, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Good point.  If you make it at home from unpasteurised milk, who's going to know?  OTOH, unless you've got your own cow, where are you going to get unpasteurised milk?  -- Zsero (talk) 16:57, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text:  You can get unpasteurized milk at some health food stores in California (from tuberculosis-tested cows). There are also periodic raids on Mexican grandmothers who are making queso-fresco in their bathtubs and selling it to the neighbors. Similar process, more salt. Maybe there should be a green cheese template. FiveRings (talk) 05:51, 12 April 2008 (UTC)

text:  Ok, there is. Nevermind. FiveRings (talk) 06:00, 12 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  "Because quark is consumed without aging, in the United States the milk must first be pasteurized" 

message: I think tvarog, quark, farmers cheese is the same thing, with name different from location to location. - Obrez (talk) 00:29, 5 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd vote no way. Don't merge. I live in Berlin and I've never seen it sold as farmers cheese. In fact because there are so many different verieties of quark I would say that you might find only one which comes close to farmers cheese.  By far the more popular versions of quark are the yogurt or cream cheese styles. So it would not fit in the farmers cheese article at all.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.178.102.130 (talk) 09:44, 30 April 2008 (UTC)
replies: text: Not the same thing at all. Here in CA farmer's cheese is sold in a brick, quark is sold in a tub. That alone should be evidence. FiveRings (talk) 15:39, 30 April 2008 (UTC)

text: problem is that its just the name that differs from locale to locale... as in your examples of Berlin and CA... in fact if you look under  name section tvarog etc is actually names for Farmers Cheese. for example article says tvarog = quark, when you to polish market here, tvarog label says Farmers Cheese...  here is a link that shows that tvorog is called farmers cheese http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.jsp?articleId=281474976749286 -Obrez (talk) 23:35, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

text: An article about Twarog/Tvorog has been recreated again. It does prove that merging of the tvorog article into the quark was a mistake. 176.99.250.68 (talk) 08:45, 6 November 2023 (UTC)
replies: text:  here are links describing quark and farmers cheese:
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-quark.htm
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-farmer-cheese.htm
not the same thing
FiveRings (talk) 05:00, 19 June 2008 (UTC)

text: Just munching on tvorog. It says tvorog on the label. Frischkäse on the German label. Made in Lithuania. For some reason, it should technically be the same as Quark, but isn't, it's way firmer and "dry"er. It has about the same protein content (14%, 15%) as magerquark (12..13%) but is way firmer. It also tastes more cheesy, but only slightly so (still bland). I am not sure whether the increased fat content can be responsible for this, 20% fat Quark is very creamy. --88.75.233.151 (talk) 18:48, 20 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: merge proposal

message: Quark is a very common product in Western Europe but hard to find in the US, Australia or New Zealand . I'm from Germany and therefore Quark is quite an ordinary component of my diet so I'll try my best to explain what it is.
First of all there are very different ways of using Quark in the kitchen: as spread, for baking, for desserts and creams. Pure it hardly has any taste (sometimes slightly bitter - but that's actually a sign of low quality), is very firm, dry and of a very light, pure white. It's mostly sold as 'Magerstufe' (low fat), containig less than 10 percent fat - therefore it's dry texture. Quark with more fat is sometimes slightly yellow.
Desserts:
Like yoghurt it's mixed with fresh fruits, chocolate or honey to create a thick, sweet paste. In most cases peole would buy pure Quark in plastic tubes (250 or 500g being common) and add the fruits at home, but some more complicated flavour-combinations (like cinnamon-apple) can be bought ready-made - often with added cream. Quark is less sour, firmer and drier than yoghurt and doesn't coagulate when mixed with acidic fruit juices but becomes of a very creamy texture when stirred.
As Herb&Spices cream:
Quark is also mixed with common herbs like parsley, pepper and dill, either used as spread for dark bread or as a sidedish for potatoes (especially with oven-baked ones). These herb varieties are very common both in restaurants and ready-made in shops.
Nowadays it's also mixed with less traditional spices like curry, chilli or lemon-grass to create dips - sometimes blended with yoghurt. Furthermore it is sometimes added to vegetable pastes (like eggplant) to improve the texture - using them as spread. 
For Baking:
Unlike yoghurt Quark does not coagulate under the influence of heat, but hardens, which makes it a very popular ingredient for cakes and pastry. Cheesecake is therefore not only referred to as Käsekuchen but also as Quarkkuchen. Quite common, next to cheesecake in all varieties, are the following products: "Quarktaschen" (quarkbags) or "Plunder" are  basket-shaped sweet pastries filled with quark and fruit. "Quarkkeulchen" (quarkballs) are dough scoops containing Quark, fried in hot oil and covered in sugar.
As "pure" Spread:
There is a vast amount of varieties of Quark spreads - as they at least contain salt and have a different texture from pure Quark they're not used for above mentioned desserts. It's very hard to tell which still belong to the Quark group and hich are more classical cream cheese  as different producers use different recipies - mixing different milk products. 
They range from dry cottage cheese to cream cheese (called Frischkäse - freshcheese), some bear the name Quark, some not.
The English word cottage cheese has its equivalent in German Hüttenkäse which is sometimes called Krümelquark (crumb Quark) because of the texture, forming little crumbs when spread. But this cottage cheese is relatively wet and salty - sometimes being closer to ewe's cheese in taste. 
Well I hope this does help - I think the essential thing is to tell the pure Quark from other cheese varieties. The German translation of cheese is Käse, but we don't use the word Käse for sweet cheese preparations like desserts (except Cheesecake) - therefore most people would not relate the white, tastelessly  Quark to classic cheese like Gouda or Cheddar.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 87.159.206.127 (talk) 17:18, 29 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quark 

message: In the dictionary entry for Skyr it is said likely that lac concretum is used to refer to Skyr. Since the "Name" section doesn't site any references (and thereforelac concretum doesn't necessarily refer to Quark) I thought I'd point this out. --BiT (talk) 04:31, 14 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Skyr? 

message: While Serbian "beli sir" is certainly delicious, its taste is distinctly different from Topfen/Quark, and it also has a different texture and consistency (somewhat similar to Mozzarella or maybe some types of Feta). I'm not an expert in these matters and don't know the exact processes, but it seems to me that these are really different products. 91.115.179.157 (talk) 18:25, 21 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  beli sir 

message: Quark is made of pasteurized, defatted milk, fermented by lactic acid bacteria and in most cases by rennet. Fermentation transforms the milk into curd. Stirring causes it to "break" into curd and whey. The whey is then separated by centrifugation (in the good old days by letting it drip from a cheesecloth). The resulting low-fat quark may then be enriched by cream in order to range it into the usual (i.e. regulatory) ranges of 10 %, 20 %, and 40 % fat in dry matter. In Switzerland, the ranges are 15 %, 25 %, and 55 %. As a rule of thumb, 1 liter of milk is transformed into 0.5 kg of Quark.
In German formal terminology, Frischkäse (literally fresh cheese) is the general term for Quark, Schichtkäse, Rahmfrischkäse, Doppelrahmfrischkäse, whereas in formal Austrian terminology, there is no Quark but only Topfen and the general term is Käse (cheese) which designates amongst others Frischkäse as well as Topfen making it two different cheeses.
Quark may be a fromage blanc in Switzerland but is not, repeat not a French or Belgian fromage blanc. According to the French WP, the fromage blanc is made by rennet and prevented from fermenting by cooling.
The differences between various types of Quark, Topfen etc result from differences in the procuction process.
In German supermarkets, Quark is available in all sorts of varieties like Quark with various fruits, of with Müsli or with herbs combined or not with garlic ...
If Tesco (UK) sells "Austrian Quark" as reported above under Fat Free, it apears to prove that their sales promotion manager thinks that all British consumers believe that all Germans, even so called Prussians wear Lederhosen (thoroughbred South-Bavarians refer to all Germans north of Bavaria as Prussians).  
I am not yet able to produce decent links. The production process is derived from various German links and the German WP article, the German Käseverordnung of 1986 as amended is published in Bundesgesetzblatt (but the relevant Attachment 1 is not in the official internet publication but only in a private web-site), the Austrian Milch-Meldeverordnung of 2001 can be found via  google.at, and swissmilk.ch has official information on their milk products. I also feel unable to change the article without damaging the useful links, so I would be glad if somebody changes the article along the above lines and inserts the links.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by AHert (talk • contribs) 13:46, 25 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quark in Germany, Austria and Switzerland 

message: Quark is commonly used for cooking. Recipes former-USSR countries (e.g. Russia, Ukraine) cuisines feature quark as ingredient for various salads, appetizers, main dishes and desserts.    
Curd cheese is also very popular in Poland (actually it's one of the most basic ingredients of polish cuisine). It's main uses are: fillings of pierogi (ruskie or sweet version), pierogi leniwe (without filling), polish cheesecakes, spreads for bread, filling for pancakes.   — Preceding unsigned comment added by 193.33.125.241 (talk) 21:03, 10 November 2013 (UTC)
thread_title:  Used in Cooking 

message: Is there any proof that Tacitus ment kvark (rahka in Finnish) and not any other kind of thick milks (in Finland at least there are dozens of them starting with several different types of buttermilk). I mean the fact that is commonly used in germanic countries today does not mean that it was 2000 years ago and that stuff used then might have disappeared centuries or even much over thousand year ago. ---193.210.145.13 (talk) 11:26, 4 August 2009 (UTC)
thread_title:  Tacitus 

message: CNN has been covering a story where the Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn used Topfen cheese to help heal her injury.  -Legaia (talk) 15:53, 15 February 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Used as home remedy 

message: I've seen numerous webpages how quark is suitable for people with lactose intolerance. But I can't find any authorative source about this on Google. I think it's worth an addition. Komitsuki (talk) 10:57, 22 March 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Quark and Lactose Intolerance 

message: The quark (cheese) and farmers cheese and Fromage frais articles need work to be fully consistent and to clearly distinguish the three (or are some the same but with different names?). Ccrrccrr (talk) 00:35, 1 September 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  vs farmers and fromage frais 

message: An earlier Deutsch-Polnisches Wörterbuch, book from 1772 by Stanislaus Nalecz Moszczenskipage 1797 translates the German Quark (Quarck) to Polish siadle mleko and Quarkkäse (Quarckkäse) = Polish z siadlego mleka and not twarog or tvarog, which is currently listed as Polish name for Quark. Wondering(50.173.166.172 (talk) 21:21, 30 April 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Siadle mleko is just soured milk, right? Quark is made out of it. One may only guess why that author decided to translate quark as soured milk into Polish. May be because typical German quark has a higher water content (up to 80%) and thus more soft than typical Polish tvarog? However, it is still tvarog. The difference between the typical German and East European versions is explained in the text. Soured milk is also sold in Germany and called Sauermilch or Dickmilch (thick milk). --Off-shell (talk) 11:17, 1 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  Someone put the photo with "Polish twarog" on top of the WikipediaEN article about Quark (dairy product), which now gives the impression, that it is the same as German Quark. Yet, as you state, it is different. Why then the twarog photo on the Quark article? Apparently at the time Stanislaus Nalecz Moszczenski translated the German Quar(c)k to Polish language, he knew that it is siadle mleko. Was twarog or tvarog not in use yet? That seems to have come into use in Polish language only later. Wondering(50.173.166.172 (talk) 22:09, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  I don't know when the word tvarog first appeared in Polish language. The article is not just about the German quark. It is about all sorts of this dairy product in Central and Eastern Europe. These sorts only differ in the water content which allows one to consider them all as the same product. Moreover, the article also states that e.g. the Austrian version of quark (Topfen) is as dry as the Polish one. All these products are made in the same way, have the same historical origin, and are used basically in the same way. I'm not sure it would be helpful to split this article into two or more. Or would you also propose to move the Russian tvorog into a third article because its consistency may be slightly different? For me the situation here looks the same as e.g. with the article Cabbage roll. The national recipes differ but basically it is all the same thing. In principle, one could add a sentence here, that the creamy German versions are uncommon in Eastern Europe and they were even considered more like a kind of sour milk there.  --Off-shell (talk) 22:42, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
replies: text:  There is no difference between polish twarog and russian tvorog  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 89.101.219.195 (talk) 08:49, 13 May 2015 (UTC)

text:  I agree with you, that basically all these products are milk products. But then again, the way they are treated makes the difference, just like all cheeses are cheeses, but oh how many different cheeses are there? In todays times, Olmützer Quargel makers are prohibited to name them as such. Yet Swiss, Tilsiter, Münster, Edamer, Parmesan cheese is made en mass in US. Even if it's basically all the same, the differences DO matter. Quargel, as Quar(c)k have been documented for many centuries, yet when you search google.com first pops up a different Quark, and not the edible kind.  Your last sentence about the creamy version, it would make sense to add it here. (50.173.166.172 (talk) 23:19, 3 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Since when is Quark translated to Polish twarog ? 

message: apparently this is a 'thing' i.e. putting wraps of it on the affected area
can anyone shed any light on the supposed benefits of this treatment?  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.75.251.224 (talk) 19:54, 20 October 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  usage to help muscular problems 

message: "It is also fairly common in Canada as well as in the northeastern and midwestern United States." At least one citation is needed for this.Kdammers (talk) 08:21, 28 March 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Not to mention it currently names every single country or people in Europe except Greece, Italy, UK, and Ireland (and the fact that they're named now doesn't mean they couldn't be). Perhaps it should just become something like "in Europe", since the exceptions are already a lot easier to name. Prinsgezinde (talk) 21:43, 3 July 2018 (UTC)
replies: text: Having this pointless unconstructive war with . I'm trying to generalize the regional cuisines where it's used, rather than requesting a citation of evidence for every one of some 30+ countries listed in the lede. The topic is poorly referenced in the general news or reliable food books or journals. So for the general Wikipedia user: generalize for geographic regions, or identify countries individually with a reference for each? --Zefr (talk) 21:10, 24 August 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Regional cuisines: ref needed 

message: Thermopiles are bacteria that thrive in extreme temperatures. Those used to make yoghurt thrive at 37C or blood temperature same as those described to make quark. 84.71.138.93 (talk) 17:27, 13 January 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Bacteria classification