Metal Pop

Who says the younger generation doesn’t read? The hottest soft drinks in Southern California, a line called Skeleteens, are notable for their prose-heavy labels. Stuck in among the garish cartoons, that is, there is prose such as, “Not everything is the way you think you see it. That is why most people in this world are flipped upside down,” and occasional invitations for correspondence to a P.O. address in Los Angeles.

On the other hand, maybe the appeal is in the names of the drinks, which are in the Heavy Metal/Beavis & Butthead spectrum: Brain Wash, DOA, Black Lemonade. The drinks are popular in biker bars, possibly so customers who aren’t drinking alcohol don’t have to feel like wimps. (The high caffeine content would probably take care of that anyhow.)

Among the ingredients are herbs such as gingko, buchu and mad dog weed, but the flavors are not wildly exotic. Mega Melon, though fairly tart, tastes like watermelon. Mental Trick Crazy Soda gives the impression of Mountain Dew with a touch of banana and Brain Wash is like some slightly unfamiliar fruit plus ginseng and jalapen~o.

Brain Wash also stains your tongue dark blue (this may be what the label refers to when it warns, “Caution: may cause special effects”). Available at coffee bars, some groceries and at least one clothing chain, Urban Outfitters.

Yogurt Cheese: No Whey

In the Near East, yogurt isn’t just something to flavor with fruit. Drain the whey from it and it becomes like cream cheese--except that since most yogurt is made from skim milk, it’s a low-fat cream cheese.

The traditional way to strain yogurt is in a piece of cloth, but the Progressive International Corp. sells plastic yogurt strainers, which look like coffee filters with extra-fine mesh. After eight hours in one of them, you have a base for dressings and sauces, after 12 hours or so a spreadable cream cheese, and after 24 hours something you can use for a sort of low-fat cheesecake.

The result is more tart than cream cheese, the exact degree of sourness depending on the kind of yogurt you use. Of course, it has to be straight yogurt, rather than one of the brands thickened with gelatin or tapioca.

The yogurt strainers (which are not dishwasher-safe, by the way) come two to a box, together with six recipes from Graham Kerr. Available at Southland cookware stores.