Yeast

Mikhail S. Gorbachev opened his talk with American intellectuals by calling them "the yeast" of society. It was a charming chuck under the chin, but a provocative simile. They should have caught him up on it. Without yeast, indigestible dough cannot become bread. If the yeast is suppressed, the society stagnates. So, tell us, how much glasnost will you allow our counterparts in the Soviet Union? He began the meeting with a long, rambling speech. His sentiments were wholesome though platitudinous and left little time for questions.

Q: For the past two years, I have had recurring yeast and bacterial infections. My gynecologist is as baffled as I am and has tried every treatment she can think of. I've been tested for diabetes, don't take baths, use mild soaps and do everything possible to avoid infection. Is there any explanation? A: Because you have been under the care of a gynecologist, I assume that you have suffered repeated vaginal infections. Your situation is complicated by the presence of both yeast and bacteria, an unusual pattern.

These days, who doesn't like hot? While salsa takes the lion's share of sales, I have a fondness in my heart for the unsung heroes of singe - hot sauces. These have sprung up as a cottage industry around the country, burning tongues and lips from Alamagordo to Albany. But few, very few indeed, are without the tart smack of vinegar within their formulas. Why should the exclusion of vinegar mean anything to the fire-eating public? Well, for most people it won't make a bit of difference, but for those with a yeast allergy, vinegar may just be the condiment they had to give up. Vinegar is full of yeast.

Dear Polly: I'm having difficulty getting combs and brushes clean. Can you help? - Garry Dear Garry: Frequent washing makes the job easier, since oil, dust and dirt don't have time to build up. However, if you have a comb or brush that's tough to clean, try soaking it in warm water to which you've added a few drops of household ammonia. Ammonia dissolves grease and should soak those combs and brushes clean. A brief brushing with an old toothbrush is an excellent way to dislodge any remaining dirt and make those implements sparkle before a final rinse in clear water.

Little in this bombed-out, besieged city functions, little that is but the Klas bakery. This is not a time for cakes and pastry. A starving city needs bread, and the Klas bakery, the only industrial one still operating, yesterday turned out 70,000 loaves to feed 300,000 people cut off from the outside world for 10 weeks. Sarajevo is without fresh meat, fruit or vegetables, so people are dependent on the Klas bread factory to survive. "We will do whatever it takes to get bread to these people.

It is a mystery of history and beer. Beer, as we know it today, was introduced to America by a former Bavarian brewmaster named John Wagner in Philadelphia in 1840. But no one knows how Wagner solved the yeast problem that had prevented American brewmasters from making lager beer. No one else had. Wagner, George Esslinger, Fred Poth, Christian Schmidt and other local brewmasters of the past will be recalled today as the German Society opens its newest exhibit, "Brewed in Philadelphia - A 19th Century View.

Dear Polly: This is for people who believe you can't bake bread out of 100- percent rye flour. I am allergic to wheat, and I have been using rye flour to do all our baking for some time. It makes beautiful pies, cookies and pastries that use yeast to make them rise. Everything comes out a nice tan color. My 100-percent rye flour bread is not much heavier than the oat bran bread on the market today. We do not care for a strong yeast flavor, and the bread rises just fine with one package of dry yeast.

The hydrocarbons that produce ozone come from a variety of sources - from vapors at the gas pump to the baking of yeast-raised bread. But environmental officials say there isn't much the average person can do to stop the formation of ozone. The best bets are driving less, and getting ready for a possible new round of pollution controls at gas stations or in new cars. "It's too early at this point to start looking at the very, very minute amounts that, when taken as a whole, contribute to the ozone problem," said Joseph Otis Minott, executive director of the Delaware Valley Clean Air Council.

Some tips to make your life with pets easier and more enjoyable: In summer, pets frequently pick up tar on their coats and paws. Remove it by rubbing the area with a gob of peanut butter, then comb and wash with soap and water. This is travel time, which can cause stomach upsets. Applesauce helps to control diarrhea and is easy to transport in cans or jars. It works because it contains pectin. My favorite remedy for all kinds of skin problems, including hot spots (a kind of running eczema that is more prevalent in summer)

Despite the snowy weather on Tuesday, Marcia Durgin and Paul Rizzo had plenty of customers for their bread and pastries at Crossroads Bakery. That kind of devotion explains the success of their young business. Demand for their European-style breads and American-style pies and pastries has propelled their business from a home-based operation to a rented garage to a storefront in less than two years. Rizzo's day starts around 4 a.m., when he arrives at the bakery the pair opened five months ago in Cross Keys Plaza on North Easton Road, just north of the Cross Keys intersection.

Two years ago, Chuck Jones of Yardley had high cholesterol, but his medicine caused severe leg cramps that routinely ruined his sleep. Since participating in a clinical trial of red yeast rice, a supplement taken in China for centuries, Jones has gotten his cholesterol under control. And within a week of starting the rice, "the pain was gone," the 59-year-old chemist said. For Jones and most other "statin-intolerant" patients, red yeast rice combined with a heart-healthy diet and exercise helped lower bad "LDL" cholesterol, concludes a small study published today in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

Everyone has a favorite recipe for Passover brisket, passed down through the generations or discovered online. But dessert is another matter. Dietary laws forbid the use of yeast, flour and baking powder at Passover. It's a restriction that stumps beginning bakers and challenges even the most experienced. That explains why nearly 45 women (and three men - two husbands and a son) signed up to sip wine, sample hors d'oeuvres, and learn from the James Beard-award-winning chef and cookbook author Aliza Green, who conducted a class on baking for Passover last month at the kosher restaurant Max & David's.

Lisa Montgomery talks fast, really fast. She holds a day job as a packaging products sales rep. She cares for three dogs, two cats and a parrot. Lately, she has been visiting her ailing mother a lot. How does the dynamo from Royersford do it all? By means of a raw-food diet, Montgomery says. She believes that the diet cleanses the body and nurtures the soul. But the raw-food connection doesn't end there. Montgomery, 51, hosts a Web site and monthly potluck dinner in her home, featuring dishes such as her signature three-nut pesto "pasta.

IN THE WEE hours of the morning, you don't need street signs to tell you you're in South Philly's Bella Vista section. All you need is your nose. Just past midnight, the aroma of baking bread envelops the Italian Market like a warm, yeasty fog. The scent gets especially heady on South 9th Street between Fitzwater and Catharine, right around Sarcone's Bakery. Sarcone's is home to the perfect loaves, the ones we take for granted as Philadelphians, wrapped around cheesesteaks and hoagies.

Irv Friedlander is as original as his sourdough starter. For more than 30 years, Friedlander has kept his yeast colony alive and kicking - through college, graduate school, two cross-country moves, seven presidents, more than 25 years of marriage and two children. He has learned the lessons of sourdough with a little help from his mentor, the late Sourdough Jack, whose cookbook chronicles the lore of the wild yeast back 6,000 years to the Egyptians. The 13th-edition book, yellowed and bound by twine, is Friedlander's kitchen bible.

Sales of vaginal yeast medications have been skyrocketing since they became available without a prescription eight years ago. But that doesn't mean there is a growing epidemic of the itchy, annoying fungal infections. Recent research suggests millions of women are actually misdiagnosing themselves, buying over-the-counter yeast products in vain, delaying appropriate treatment of what really ails them - and sometimes making it worse. The federal Food and Drug Administration is concerned about the problem.

Yo, Chef! My mother, God rest her soul, used to make egg bread. We could smell it from down the street when we came home. I never watched her make it, to my sorrow. All she left were the ingredients, and I don't know the procedure. This is what she left us on a card: "5 pounds flour, 2 1/4 cups Crisco, 20 eggs, 1 2/3 packages yeast, 2 cups sugar, fennel seed. " The instructions: "Bake 25 minutes at 325 degrees. " Mrs. Ann Witkowski Philadelphia Dear Ann, I recognized the egg-bread recipe as a version of a French brioche or a Jewish challah.

These days, who doesn't like hot? While salsa takes the lion's share of sales, I have a fondness in my heart for the unsung heroes of singe - hot sauces. These have sprung up as a cottage industry around the country, burning tongues and lips from Alamagordo to Albany. But few, very few indeed, are without the tart smack of vinegar within their formulas. Why should the exclusion of vinegar mean anything to the fire-eating public? Well, for most people it won't make a bit of difference, but for those with a yeast allergy, vinegar may just be the condiment they had to give up. Vinegar is full of yeast.

What's all this about yeast-free bread? In the last couple of months, I've seen three or four brands in natural- food markets with colorful "Yeast Free" stickers. If there's no yeast in the bread, how does it rise and become a minor glory of the civilized world? I had more than just a technical interest, and was thinking of those who suffer side-effects from baker's yeast. Ah, to taste a good crust of bread again would be worth its weight in - desem? As I found out, desem, a natural "starter," is at the heart of this new bread revolution.

Fleischmann's Bread Machine Yeast. $4.99 per 4-ounce jar. Bonnie: By the end of 1993, more than 3 million Americans will own bread machines. And many of them will be baking bread for Thanksgiving dinner this year. If you haven't yet seen one, bread machines make baking bread a breeze. All you do is place water, bread flour, salt and yeast into the machine's container, close it, press a button and wait a few hours to have fresh bread and the irresistible aroma that goes with it. It's so simple even Carolyn can do it. As simple as using a bread machine is, some owners are confused as to what kind of yeast to use: RapidRise or active dry yeast.