Tell someone you’re out of quark and you’re likely to get a look like the one I gave my wife the first time she asked me to get some. We were living in Munich, Germany, and when I asked her what we needed from the store, her reply began, "Milk, eggs, quark…"

I scanned my mind for known quarks — publishing software; sub-tomic particles; the Ferengi bartender on Deep Space Nine? No soap. Turns out Germans of all walks of life consider quark — a soft, unripened, fresh-milk cheese — a staple: the average German consumes 20 pounds of quark annually.

Good idea. Quark is a fresh, creamy, high-protein, low-fat, low-carb and versatile food as delicious in deserts as in savory dishes, as sensational atop bread as atop breakfast cereal. It’s why American cheesecake made with cream cheese — is always outclassed by the velvety fluffiness and full-mouthed creamy richness of the German variety.

Not only is quark available at HWFC, it’s easy to make at home.

Hawthorne Valley Farms in Ghent is one of HWFC’s quark suppliers. "We’ve been making it since the beginning," said Abe Madey, Hawthorne Valley Farms’ dairy manager, who hand-makes about 250 pounds of quark weekly. "It was a prerequisite in a Swiss- and German-influenced dairy business. Now demand is rock-solid."

Quark (it’s German for, "curd") is a strained cultured milk product, a cousin to ricotta. Take some pasteurized whole or skim milk, heat it to 70°F, add some aromatic ripening culture and let it sit. After a while, you’ve got a loosely curdy, yogurty-looking soup. Pour this into a cheesecloth bag for about six hours and what’s left in the bag is quark. (Leave it in the bag a bit longer and you have topfen, a tighter-packed, less-moist quark; leave it in even longer and add salt and you’ll end up with a crumbly, fresh-tasting bianca cheese).

That it can be made from skim milk led to an explosion in Germany of fat-free quark products similar to fromage blanc. Astonishingly, these are nearly as creamy-tasting and satisfying — though slightly chalkier in texture — than the fuller-fat quarks, which run from about 10% to more than 40% milkfat. That low-fat fad has not yet caught on at Hawthorne Valley, whose quark weighs in at just about 10% milkfat. But even that’s svelte compared to butter (at about 65% to 85% milkfat) and cream cheese (about 30%). Vermont Butter & Cheese Co. makes a 0% fat fromage blanc, which is a bit saltier and looser than most quarks (give it a good stir before using).

Madey agreed that quark’s versatility is astounding. Germans use quark as Americans use cream cheese atop bread or bagels: take two tablespoons of quark and stir in a bit of tomato paste, or ground cumin, or horseradish, or garlic and chives, or honey, and you’ve got a light, creamy bread topping straight from Heaven. Use it in place of whipped cream on pies or cakes, and drizzle with raspberry sauce or fresh fruit.

Or try one of the recipes below and see how quark can add a unique and lovely new ingredient to your cooking.

Corinna’s Quick Stollen

Just in time to add to the holiday baking list, here’s a simple version of the German favorite. It’s a classic German semi-sweet cake, of moist, simple dough, crunchy almonds, tart cranberries, rich, dark rum and a creamy quark finish, all liberally dusted with confectioner sugar.

Preheat oven to 400°F. Mix the softened butter, eggs, sugar, vanilla, rum, salt and quark in a large bowl until smooth. Mix the baking powder and flour, and fold into the mixture. Knead until uniform. Add the almonds, honey, fruit and grated lemon peel until they are uniformly mixed in the dough. The dough should be firm and self-contained enough that it only sticks to your hands a little bit as you knead it.

Line a rectangular 12" bread pan or 8" square or round cake pan with baking paper (or grease the pan with a light film of butter, margarine or cooking spray) and place the dough into the bread pan. Place the pan in the center of the oven and bake for 55 minutes; test for doneness by inserting a wooden skewer or toothpick — if it comes out clean, it’s done. Remove, let cool. Remove the stollen from the bread pan and place on serving plate. If desired, sprinkle liberally with confectioners sugar.

Think of quark the way perfumers think of whale blubber: It takes on whatever aroma you put it next to. Flavoring quark is an art, but one my kid can do. The trick is to begin with small quantities of additives and build until they blend with, but don’t overpower, the quark. Start with 3 tablespoons of quark for experiments; in a short time you can be multiplying the recipes for hors d’oeuvres (atop crackers or mochi) or family meals.

To 3 TBS of quark, salt to taste (and an optional additionaly 2 TBS of heavy cream) add and blend: