Not to be confused with cheese curd. For the fictional TV character, see Tita Tovenaar. This pierogi dough with sour cream and butter needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.

Quark or quarg is a type of fresh dairy product made from milk. The milk is soured, usually by adding lactic acid bacteria cultures, and strained once the desired curdling is achieved. Dictionaries sometimes translate it as curd cheese, cottage cheese, farmer cheese or junket. Quark is similar to French fromage blanc. Although quark is sometimes referred to loosely as a type of “cottage cheese”, they can be distinguished by the different production aspects and textural quality, with the cottage cheese grains described as more chewy or meaty.

A cognate term for quark, túró, is used in Hungarian. In Israel, gevina levana denotes the creamy variety similar to the German types of quark. Quark is a member of the acid-set cheese group, whose coagulation mainly relies on the acidity produced by lactic acid bacteria feeding on the lactose. Manufacture of quark normally uses pasteurized skim milk as the main ingredient, but cream can be added later to adjust fat content. In Germany, it is continuously stirred to prevent hardening, resulting in a thick, creamy texture. Quark with higher fat content is made by adding cream after cooling.

Quark may be flavored with herbs, spices, or fruit. Some or most of the whey is removed to standardize the quark to the desired thickness. Variations in quark preparation occur across different regions of Germany and Austria. Most of the Austrian and other Central and Eastern European varieties contain less whey and are therefore drier and more solid than the German and Scandinavian ones. Under Russian governmental regulations, tvorog is distinguished from cheeses, and classified as a separate type of dairy product.

Various cuisines feature quark as an ingredient for appetizers, salads, main dishes, side dishes and desserts. One common use for quark is in making cheesecake called Käsekuchen or Quarkkuchen in Germany. Quark cheesecake is called Topfenkuchen in Austria. Dutch, usually have a cookie crumb crust, and the quark is typically mixed with whipped cream, gelatine, and sugar. Quark is also often used as an ingredient for sandwiches, salads, and savory dishes.

In Germany, quark mixed with chopped onions and herbs such as parsley and chives is called Kräuterquark. In Poland, twaróg is mixed with mashed potatoes to produce a filling for pierogi. In Russian families, it is especially recommended for growing babies. It can be enjoyed simply with sour cream, or jam, sugar, sugar condensed milk, or as a breakfast food. It is often used as a stuffing in blinchiki offered at many fast-food restaurants. In Latvia, quark is eaten savory mixed with sour cream and scallions on rye bread or with potatoes.

In desserts, quark is commonly baked into biezpiena plātsmaize, a crusted sheet cake baked with or without raisins. Estonian Quark is evaluated on olfaction, vision, taste, after taste, and texture and is distributed nationally as well as to nearby regions. Although common in continental Europe, manufacturing of quark is rare in the Americas. A few dairies manufacture it, such as the Vermont Creamery in Vermont, and some specialty retailers carry it. German-style quark is manufactured in the Didsbury, Alberta, plant of Calgary-based Foothills Creamery. In Australia, Ukrainian traditional quark is produced by Blue Bay Cheese in the Mornington Peninsula. It is also sometimes available from supermarkets labelled as quark or quarg.