Whatsit Wednesday - Kwark

“Oh, you mean yoghurt?” No. “Is it cottage cheese?” No. So what is this white stuff that looks like cottage cheese or yoghurt but is something different and is found in various countries in Europe (including Belgium and the Netherlands)?

In Belgium, it is sometimes called “white cheese” or “flat cheese”. In the Netherlands it is simply called “kwark”. You can put your muesli in it with some fruit. You can spread it on your bread as a substitute for butter or margarine. You can make a sort of cheesecake out of it. But most of all, you can completely enjoy it and know that you are eating something healthy. 

Kwark is high in protein (14 grams per 100g serving) which is double the amount of Greek yoghurt. It is much lower in salt than cottage cheese which often tops out at 406mg per 100g. Kwark has 40mg per 100g. Add to all of those healthy attributes the delicious taste and you have a great food with a strange name.

Kwark (sometimes spelled ‘Quark’ in the US) is made by warming soured milk until it curdles. Lactic acid bacteria are added and the kwark is strained in a cheesecloth. It is hung up (which is where the name of one of the products “hangop” comes from) and results in a firm yet creamy textured product. Kwark is something you can make at home if you can’t find it in the stores. 

In Belgium it has been made for quite some time in Rotselaar, a city where we have brothers and sisters in the church. So far we have only enjoyed singing together and worshipping the Lord. But perhaps in the future we will ask about their “plattekaas” (flat cheese).