- Season
- Available all year; it is made fresh all year round
- Price
- Low
- Nutrition per 100 g
- 139 kcal
- 9.3 g protein
- 9.8 g fat
- 3.5 g carbs
Full-Fat Curd Cheese
Dairy
Full-Fat Curd Cheese
Tvaroh plnotučný is Czech full-fat tvaroh: a fresh, unripened curd cheese set mainly by lactic acid, made from cow's milk with cream added, and sold chilled in 250 g foil-wrapped blocks or plastic tubs. Under Czech food law (vyhláška 397/2016 Sb.), tvaroh is an unripened cheese in which acid setting outweighs setting with rennet.
In practice
How to store
- On the counter
Do not keep it at room temperature. Tvaroh is a perishable fresh cheese. Take it out only for as long as you need to use it, and do not leave fillings or spreads made with it standing out for long.
- In the fridge
Store at the temperature on the pack, usually no higher than 8 °C, and use by the date shown ("spotřebujte do"). Once opened, cover tightly and use within 2–3 days. Pour off any whey that collects, or stir it back in for spreads.
- In the freezer
It can be frozen in its original wrapping or an airtight container for up to about 2–3 months. Thaw slowly in the fridge. Afterwards it is grainier and lets out whey, so drain it and use it for baking, dumplings or cooked fillings rather than fresh spreads.
How to choose
Check the label for "tučný" or "plnotučný" and for the fat content (usually 8–12 %). The ingredients should read only milk and cream, or milk, cream and dairy cultures. Plain tvaroh needs no starch, thickeners or vegetable fat. Products that contain these are usually cheaper imitations, and a product made with vegetable fat may not legally be sold as tvaroh. Choose by what you are making. For fillings that must hold their shape, such as buchty, vázané koláče, šátečky or strudel, buy the foil-wrapped block (tvaroh v alobalu, often called "kostka"). It has more dry matter and will not make dough soggy. Tubs (vanička) are softer and wetter, which suits spreads, cream fillings, cheesecake-style bakes and dishes where you would otherwise whisk the curd smooth. Buy well within the use-by date. A pack that bulges, smells yeasty or bitter, or shows mould should not be used.
What to swap in
Best swap
Another fresh acid-set curd of similar fat, such as Polish twaróg tłusty or German quark at about 40 % fat in dry matter. Drain quark if it is softer than the recipe needs.
In a pinch
Semi-fat (polotučný) tvaroh enriched with a spoonful of cream or butter, or ricotta drained well. Cottage cheese (sýr cottage) can work if it is drained and blended smooth, but it is saltier and less sour.
Preparation
For fillings, many Czech cooks push the curd through a sieve or mash it with a fork to break up lumps, then mix in egg yolk, sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon zest. Raisins are an optional addition. Soft tvaroh from a tub can be drained in a sieve lined with a cloth for a few hours in the fridge, or firmed up with a spoonful of semolina, custard powder (pudinkový prášek) or breadcrumbs. For tvarohové knedlíky, mix the tvaroh with egg, semolina or flour and a pinch of salt. Let the mixture rest so the starch absorbs moisture, then shape and simmer. For spreads, beat it with butter or a little milk, salt, garlic, onion or herbs.
Don't toss it
Whey that seeps out of the pack is drinkable and can replace water or milk in bread dough, pancake batter or smoothies. Small leftovers can be beaten with herbs and salt into a quick bread spread (tvarohová pomazánka) or stirred into pancake batter.
In the kitchen
Cooking
Czech cooks use tvaroh mostly in baking. It is a filling for yeast-dough buchty and koláče, for Valašské frgály and strudel, and it goes into tvarohová bábovka and tvarohový koláč. Tvarohové knedlíky are simmered, then served with melted butter, sugar and fruit or crumbled gingerbread. It also goes into fruit dumplings (ovocné knedlíky) made with tvaroh dough, and into baked dishes such as nákyp. Tvaroh can be eaten uncooked in spreads and sweet creams. In baked dishes containing raw egg, cook the filling until it is set and hot right through.
Goes well with
- Vanilla
- Lemon Zest
- Raisins
- Plum Jam (Povidla)
- Apricots
- Poppy Seeds
- Butter
- Eggs
- Semolina
- Cinnamon
- Chives
- Garlic
- Spring Onion
- Paprika
- Caraway
- Rye Bread
What it is
Tvaroh plnotučný is Czech full-fat tvaroh: a fresh, unripened curd cheese set mainly by lactic acid, made from cow's milk with cream added, and sold chilled in 250 g foil-wrapped blocks or plastic tubs. Under Czech food law (vyhláška 397/2016 Sb.), tvaroh is an unripened cheese in which acid setting outweighs setting with rennet. The legal category for this product is "tučný" (full-fat), which means at least 38 % fat in dry matter. On the label that usually comes to about 8–12 % fat in the product as sold. "Plnotučný" is the everyday shop name for this category, and many packs are labelled simply "tvaroh tučný". The texture is moist but holds together and breaks into soft crumbs. Foil-wrapped blocks are firmer and drier, while tubs are softer and smoother. Tvaroh is a staple of Czech home baking, used in the fillings of buchty, koláče and frgály, in tvarohové knedlíky (curd dumplings) and in sweet or savoury spreads.
How it tastes
Clean, milky and gently sour from lactic fermentation. The cream makes it rounder and less sharp than lean (odtučněný) tvaroh. It is not salted and has no rind and no aged or cheesy notes. It takes on sugar, vanilla, lemon zest, garlic, chives and salt easily.
Common questions
What does "plnotučný" tvaroh mean on a Czech label?
Is tvaroh the same as quark?
Which tvaroh is best for buchty and koláče?
Why is there liquid in my tvaroh?
Can I freeze tvaroh?
Who should avoid tvaroh?
Deep dive
3 min read
Varieties
Czech tvaroh is sold by fat content, as set out in vyhláška 397/2016 Sb.
Tučný / plnotučný (full-fat)
at least 38 % fat in dry matter, usually about 8–12 % fat as sold. It is the creamiest and richest Czech tvaroh and the subject of this entry.
Polotučný (semi-fat)
15–25 % fat in dry matter. It is the common all-purpose choice for everyday baking.
Nízkotučný / jemný (low-fat)
no more than 15 % fat in dry matter.
Odtučněný, měkký or tvrdý (skimmed)
no more than 5 % fat in dry matter. Without further detail, "měkký" and "tvrdý" on a label both mean skimmed tvaroh. Měkký has about 22 % dry matter and is softer. Tvrdý has about 30 % dry matter, is set by acid alone and is crumbly.
Block or tub
blocks wrapped in foil or parchment are firmer and better for fillings. Tubs are smoother and wetter. Flavoured dessert tvarohy (tvarohové dezerty) are sweetened products and not a substitute in recipes.
Relatives (different products)
German Quark, including the cream-enriched Sahnequark, is usually smoother and more spoonable. Polish twaróg and Russian or Ukrainian tvorog are close relatives. Ricotta is a whey cheese made by heating, and cottage cheese consists of salted, washed curds in cream. Neither is tvaroh.
History
Fresh sour-milk curd is one of the oldest dairy foods in Central Europe. Tvaroh has long been a basic ingredient of Czech home cooking, especially in the baking traditions of Moravia and Bohemia (buchty, koláče, frgály) and in dumplings. Today its composition and naming in Czech shops are set by vyhláška 397/2016 Sb., which defines tvaroh and its fat categories.
Science
Tvaroh is made by adding lactic acid bacteria to pasteurised milk, sometimes with a small amount of rennet. The bacteria turn lactose into lactic acid. As acidity rises towards the isoelectric point of casein (around pH 4.6), the casein proteins lose their charge and form a soft gel. The gel is then drained of whey, and the curd is often separated mechanically and cooled. Because acid setting dominates, the curd stays soft and crumbly rather than elastic. Setting with more rennet gives a firmer, more elastic curd. For full-fat tvaroh, cream is added to bring the fat to at least 38 % of dry matter. The extra fat coats the protein particles, which gives a finer, creamier mouthfeel and helps fillings stay moist when baked. Heat makes the curd proteins firm up and push out water, which is why wet tvaroh can make fillings run. Egg, semolina or starch bind that water.
Sourcing and ethics
Czech tvaroh is mostly made by domestic dairies from Czech cow's milk. Large producers sit alongside many regional dairies and farm dairies. Organic (bio) tvaroh carries the EU organic logo and, for Czech organic products, the national "Bio" mark. Consumer tests by dTest have found products imitating tvaroh with starch or thickeners, so reading the ingredients list is the best guide to a genuine product. Buying from a regional dairy or a farmers' market supports local milk production. Like all dairy products, tvaroh has a significant environmental footprint for each kilogram, because it takes several litres of milk to make.