itching hands and feet driving me nuts!

Quark (or quarg) is a fresh unripened cheese prepared in a fashion similar to cottage cheese. As with other fresh cheeses, the first step in the creation of quark is pasteurization of the milk. Fresh cheeses are consumed without aging and so milk used must be pasteurized to ensure the safety of the cheese. Once the cheesemilk is prepared, starter culture is added to generate lactic acid from lactose. Acidification occurs until the pH is lowered to 4.6, which causes precipitation of the casein proteins. A very small amount of rennet is included with the cheesemilk and it functions to make the curd firmer. Unlike cottage cheese, the quark coagulum is not cut or cooked. The curd is simply broken by agitation and whey is removed by bag drainage or by centrifugal force in a mechanical curd concentrator. The product may then be salted. The resulting texture of the quark cheese is very smooth, unlike cottage cheese, which consists of distinct curds. Quark cheese is used as an ingredient to add sensory appeal, mild flavour, and nutritional value to foods. Quark is a fresh cheese with a smooth texture, a mild, slightly sour flavour and a white colour. Quark cheese can be prepared from skim milk, partially skim milk or whole milk. When the Quark cheese is made with fat, the fat contributes to the flavour and smoothness of the cheese. Quark cheese has a fairly short shelf life due to its relatively high moisture content. Since the curd is not washed (as in cottage cheese manufacture), quark cheese has a relatively high lactose content.