AWCH The Many Uses of Quark

When I first moved to Germany, I was fascinated with the wide variety of dairy products available in most stores. Not being much of a dairy product fan myself, I generally steered clear of the ones I was not familiar with. One of these was Quark. Quark is soured milk with the whey (or fluid) removed. My first actual contact with Quark was shortly before the birth of my first child. The midwife instructed me to buy a big supply of it to keep in the fridge for after giving birth. I had no idea why, but I did it.

The midwife used the Quark for two different purposes. Purpose Number One: For engorged breasts when my milk came in: after a breastfeeding session, she wrapped my breasts in a Quark compress. The coolness of the Quark helped stem the flow of milk. Purpose Number Two: For soothing birth-related injuries to the vaginal area: a condom filled with Quark applied directly to the affected area helps reduce swelling and alleviate pain. Of course, if you do not have a condom, you can just put the Quark in a Kleenex. The condom, however, is the perfect shape and size, not to mention that you do not have the moisture of the Quark leaking out.

Now that my children are older, I no longer need Quark for my body, but for theirs. Here are two Quark recipes that are not only easy to make, but also nutritious, especially if you use all natural, organic ingredients.

Quick Quark Rolls

500 g whole (grain) wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder (Backpulver)
1 tsp. salt
1 tbs. honey
500 g Quark
3 tsp. neutral oil (like sunflower seed oil)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 200° Celsius. Put the flour in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead into a ball. If the mixture is too dry, add milk. If the mixture is too moist, add more flour. Form the dough into smaller balls using damp hands. Press the tops of the balls into various seeds (pumpkin, sunflower, poppy, caraway, sesame, linseed, oat flakes, etc.). Place on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 20-30 minutes.

Chocolate Quark

2-3 bananas
500 g Magerquark (quark with a fat content of around 1%)
100 g plain yoghurt
2 tbs. cocoa (without sugar please)
1-2 tbs. honey
15-20 g roughly grated chocolate

Puree the bananas. Add Quark and yoghurt and mix well. Sift the cocoa over the banana mixture and mix well. Add honey and stir. Grate the chocolate over the top and serve.