An Ode to Quark

There are few simple joys that in life- one is watching extraordinary violent movies, the other finding something for which I have long searched.

Unless you want to hear about my un-pacifistic film fetish (and by all means, tell me if you do :)), today's post will be about the latter: in particular, finding a pot of quark cheese.

As an exchange student in The Fatherland, each morning I would be roused by the pungent aroma of toasting rye bread (not a particularly romantic memory, I know, but bread is so essentially Germany). I'd wander bleary-eyed into the kitchen where breakfast- lovingly prepared by my exchange mother- would be waiting for me: a steaming mug of cocoa and thick, toasted slices of rye bread from the local bakery, loaded up with quark cheese and organic apple jam, made from apples from the nearby orchard. BEST BREAKFAST EVER.

Ahhhh, it invokes much nostalgia.

So, you can imagine my disappointment when, wanting to relive the sentimental memories of my sojourn to Deutschland, I was unable to track down a pot of quark. I hunted high and low- in foreign smallgoods stores, the cheese aisle of the supermarket, at Aldi- but with little avail. I even asked expat friends, but alas, it seemed as if my quarky memories would have to fade for good. I was heartbroken.

So you can imagine my amazed delight when, after my daily cardiac torture sesh at the local gym, I popped into the the organic grocer for some firm tofu for lunch and saw a lone pot of quark sitting in the refrigerated section between the marinated veggies and bean curd. If the gym hadn't been enough to give me a heart attack, this was.

I was elated. My cup ranneth over with ecstasy. Despite the $8.25 price tag (ouch!), my tofu and I rushed to the checkout. I bet you can guess what I had on my toast this morning :)

Here is a delicious authentic German cheesecake recipe that I'm hoping to try soon. I think it would taste lovely with raspberries OR maybe some grilled figs with honey? Yummo! I would probably also add some grated ginger to the crust. :P