Quicky Quark

Several  months ago,  Whole Foods called and asked if I'd like to teach a cheese-making class for kids.  I said yes. "Ok," they said, "It's an hour-long class, and we'd like something done with yogurt." So how can you make cheese in one hour with some time left for tasting and enjoying the results? I was beginning to think that the whole thing was impossible, but then I thought about quark. Quark, or tvorog, as it's known in Russia, is a staple in the Eastern European diet. Soft-textured, nutritious  and very versatile, it's well loved by most people-- except for me. I have always hated the stuff with a passion. When I was little, my grandmas were sure that tvorog was essential for my survival. Once, when I was about five, I was scratched by a cat and taken to a doctor. The doctor, not really concerned about my human rights, entered into a conspiracy with my grandma.  He told me sternly that I had a choice: either I agreed to eat a tablespoon of tvorog every day, or he'd have to give me rabies shots, thirty of them, in the tummy. I thought hard for a moment and said: "Give me the shots!".

Anyway, now and here, tvorog, or quark, came in handy . So here's how we made it:

Ingredients:

• 1 Gallon of Whole Milk;
• 2 small yogurts or 1 large yogurt, whole milk (Dannon Plain works just fine; Trader Joe's European Style Plain works great)
• Rice vinegar (1/2 - 1 cup, depending on your yogurt)
• Water

Equipment needed:

• 1 large pot
• 1 colander
• 1 cheesecloth or a muslin cloth
• 1 spatula
• 1 skimmer/slotted spoon
• 1 pair of 2 cups (disposables OK)
• Thermometer 
• Draining vessel

The process:

1. Pour some milk into the pot, turn the heat on and add the yogurt. Stir till smooth.
2. Add remaining milk.
3. Continue mixing and warming up the milk to 120 F.
4. Watch for curdling and separation!
5. If the cheese is not fully separated by the time the temperature reaches 120 F, slowly add vinegar, while stirring continuously. Turn off the heat.
6. Wait till the milk separates into curds and greenish whey.
7. Drain through the colander with a cheesecloth.
8. Push and knead to get the liquid out.
9. Your quark is ready!! Add your favorite topping and enjoy.

The kids had a blast, and the quark was delicious with brown sugar and honey. Even I liked it!