🥣 Tvorog

Tvorog is a fresh, unripened curd cheese made by souring milk with lactic acid bacteria and separating the curd from the whey. Under the Codex Alimentarius standard, such cheeses belong to the unripened cheeses, including fresh cheese: they are eaten soon after they are made, without any ripening. The milk is set mainly by lactic acid, sometimes with a small amount of rennet.

American cottage cheese is made in a similar way. The milk is soured and left until its acidity reaches pH 4.6–4.7: at that point the casein coagulates, which can take more than 6 hours. The curd is cut, warmed and the whey drained off. For cottage cheese the curds are also washed and mixed with cream, while tvorog is simply strained or pressed. According to FAO, the acid whey left over is twice as rich in calcium as the sweet whey from rennet cheeses.

Tvorog is traditional in Eastern and Central Europe; its close relatives are German quark and cottage cheese. It goes into syrniki, varenyky, bakes, the Easter dish curd paskha and fillings for pastries. According to USDA, 100 g of cottage cheese contains 98 kcal, 11.1 g of protein, 4.3 g of fat and 83 mg of calcium. That is far less calcium than in hard cheese (FAO gives 720 mg): during acid coagulation part of it passes into the whey.

Tvorog or cottage cheese? The method is similar, but cottage cheese curds are washed and mixed with cream, whereas tvorog is just strained or pressed, so it is plainer and firmer. Tvorog or quark? Close relatives: quark is the German version of the same fresh, acid-set cheese. Tvorog or hard cheese? Different in process and in calcium: according to USDA cottage cheese has 83 mg per 100 g, while FAO gives 720 mg for hard cheese, because part of the calcium leaves with the whey.

Look for tvorog, often printed as творог or twaróg, in Eastern European food shops and in the chilled section of larger supermarkets; the pack may also say quark, curd cheese or farmer cheese. Choose a product made from pasteurised milk if you are pregnant. The fat level is printed on the label, and low-fat versions have 3 g per 100 g or less. Keep the pack at 0–5 °C.

Why it matters to you. Fresh cheese spoils quickly: keep it in the fridge at 0–5 °C and pay attention to the date on the pack. The NHS lists pasteurised cottage cheese among the soft cheeses that are safe in pregnancy, so choose tvorog made from pasteurised milk. If you are watching your fat intake, check the label: according to the NHS, low-fat quark and cottage cheese contain 3 g of fat per 100 g or less.