Instructions: Q. What is quark? I have a recipe for white pesto. The ingredients are 200 g quark, 30 g pine nuts, 75g fresh grated parmesan and about 12 cloves of pan-braised garlic - then puree.

A. Quark is a fresh white cheese, with a texture that has been kindly described as pastelike. In our recollection from student days in Germany, it is chalky. Different varieties of quark range from nonfat to about 11% fat, and the higher the fat, of course, the creamier the consistency.

Marcella Hazan uses ricotta cheese in her white pesto variation. If that is more readily available where you are than quark, it would be a fine substitute.

It is a little odd that the white pesto recipe doesnt include any olive oil, which is such a big part of pesto.

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