Mediavore

Somali Food Aid Blocked by Extremists; Fat Duck Chef Has a New Bird

• Islamic Jihadists with ties to Al Qaeda are blocking food aid to some 3 million starving Somalians. [USAT]

• Fat Duck chef Heston Blumenthal has left his wife of twenty years for the “saucy” American food writer Suzanne Pirret. Scandal. [Telegraph UK]

• A ban on Styrofoam takeout containers passed the California state senate in July, seeking to keep broken bits of the packaging from winding up in the ocean. [LAT]

• Now here’s some corporate mobile dining we can get behind: the Ringling Bros. Pie Car food truck, a spinoff of its circus train’s dining room. [NRN]

• Important news flash: While “The Situation” likes his Italian-American grub, Snooki loves Italian food straight from the source. [China Daily]

• Northeast L.A. has a surprisingly strong scene for vegans and vegetarians. [Highland Park Patch]

• Letter grades will tell you how clean a restaurant’s facilities are, but can’t monitor whether an employee is washing his or her hands or whether vermin might show up someday, meaning you can still get sick at an A place. [LAT]

• A new preservative called bisin could keep vegetables fresh without refrigeration and allow milk and sausage to keep for three years on the shelf. Whoa. [Telegraph U.K.]

• The chefs from Street, Ammo, and Melisse attempt to make their signature dishes with considerably less fat and salt. [LAT]

Somali Food Aid Blocked by Extremists; Fat Duck Chef Has a New Bird