SC - non-member submission - re - must

[Jenne Heise]

> <<<<<Actually, as yeast was not --specifically-- an ingredient in
> medieval brewing and baking, the beer or wine was prepared, and
> then set out uncovered so that it would collect the correct
> yeast beasties.  I have heard "must" referred to as the foam on
> top of fermenting beverages, therefore, containing yeast.  Good
> stuff to have if you are making bread.
> (could be wrong, have been before, will be again.  Crazy world)
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>
> Yeast:  micro-organism responsible for fermentation of beer and wine
> (and mead); it
> can be introduced intentionally or accidentally to dissolved sugars.
> Barm:  The flocculated (read fallen to the bottom) yeast and sediment
> that accumulates
> on the bottom of the fermenter as leavings from beer fermentation.  It
> contains proteins, dead
> yeast cells, dormant yeast cells and any heavy materials/compounds that
> fall to the bottom
>  of the beer.  Can be used to ferment other beers.

Yup. And there are plenty of references to leavening with beer barm.
(Inexplicably, these are mostly redacted by using beer and some form of
leaven other than yeast. I don't understand this.)

I was told that beer barm was used in period to make more beer, and
certainly if you have a yeast culture in an unwashed 'kneading trough'
there's a good chance that the yeast would continue to live long enough
for you to make batch after batch. 

Does anybody have any reason to believe that period breads were formed by
using a new sponge every time, and letting it sit until it bubbled
(usually several days)?
Otherwise, I would assume that either beer barm or a starter from the last
batch was used in the dough, and that the sponge (a slurry of water and
flour, with yeast added-- the first rise step in making sourdough bread,
nowadays) would be left to rise again for about 12 hours or so, rather
than the several days it would take to ferment it from natural intrusions
of yeast.

Presumably, in Jewish households, you would renew your starter once a
year, after passover?
 -- 
Jadwiga Zajaczkowa, mka Jennifer Heise	      jenne at tulgey.browser.net
disclaimer: i speak for no-one and no-one speaks for me.
"I do my job. I refuse to be responsible for other people's managerial 
hallucinations." -- Lady Jemina Starker