What are iconic and twisted and no longer free? Pretzels aboard some Continental Airlines flights.

Continental stopped serving complimentary snacks to passengers flying coach on domestic routes this week. The change is consistent with the carrier's merger-partner United Airlines' policy of food for purchase.

"We are removing beverage snacks - pretzels and Biscoff [cookies] - in an effort to reduce costs and align ourselves with many of our network competitors," Continental representative Andrew Farraro said.

Continental expects the pretzel and cookie cut could save $2.8 million annually.

Read No more free pretzels on Continental

5@5 is a daily, food-related list from chefs, writers, political pundits, musicians, actors, and all manner of opinionated people from around the globe.

Aaron London wants you to get your hands dirty - not only because it'll deepen your appreciation of the earth's bounty, but because he believes it'll make the food downright taste better.

London is the executive chef of Ubuntu, the Michelin-starred "vegetable" restaurant (they prefer this term rather than vegetarian) in Napa, California.

Here, London and his team source many of their ingredients, from rainbow chard to kaffir limes, from the restaurant's own biodymanic garden - and what they can't produce themselves, they source locally.

Five reasons why it’s awesome to have a garden, whether you’re a chef or not: Aaron London
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Anyone who follows food has likely heard of "molecular gastronomy," a term that’s been floated around for the two last decades to describe a scientific exploration of food and the cooking process.

Some of the best restaurants in the world, such as Chicago’s Alinea and Spain’s El Bulli, have become famous for their out-of-the-box thinking when it comes to mixing food, science and technology in this way.
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Contrary to what most people may think, life as a food editor in the Time Warner Center isn't all tweezer-peeled Ruby Roman grapes and Cherubim heart carpaccio lunches at Per Se or even sustainolocaganic kale 'n quinoa salads from the Whole Foods in the basement.

Nope - we haul our cookies up to the 10th floor "Park Cafe" employee cafeteria and stand in line for salads, sandwiches and the "action" station with the likes of Eatocracy's Senior Junk Food Correspondent Ali Velshi (when he's in town) and "In the Arena" host Eliot Spitzer (who we're pretty sure actually lives under one of the steam tables because he is ALWAYS there - not that we're, um, obsessed or anything...).

It's never gonna knock your socks off, but it's fresh-ish, not aggressively unhealthy, and the view of Central Park is all seasonally verdant and whatnot. We rarely ever eat IN the cafeteria, mind you - rather we Gollum our little salad bar clamshells back to our desks and fork it into our face holes as swiftly as possible so we can get back to writing about, you know, food. (Yes, we simultaneously embrace and bemoan the irony.)

One thing on which we never skimp, though - taking time to see what's on offer at the International Station. We've mentioned this before - the wonkily adorable theme days including "Home," "Chez Chez L'Ami Louis, Paris," "Joliet, IL," "Roscoe's Chicken 'N' Waffles" and most recent and perhaps most befuddling of all, yesterday's "Deep In My Soul."
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Sink your teeth into today's top stories from around the globe.

• Jimmy Fallon and Stephen Colbert want to plop a scoop of friendship on your sugar cone of love. - Eater

• Thank you very much coffee-pouring roboto. - Gizmodo

• In an unfortunate turn of events, the 575-pound spokesman for Heart Attack Grill, Blair River, has died at the age of 29. - USA Today

• An all-female staff at a sushi restaurant has Japanese traditionalists reeling. - Wall Street Journal

• Virginia is for winos. - Imbibe Magazine

• A plea to stop dosing poultry feed with arsenic. - Grist

While you're frying up some eggs and bacon, we're cooking up something else: a way to celebrate today's food holiday and the most delicious finds on TV.

Pound for pound, this is one of our favorite desserts: March 4 is National Pound Cake Day.

Originally made with one pound each of flour, butter, eggs and sugar, the recipe for pound cake has evolved quite a bit. For example, oil can be substituted for some of the butter, and dried fruits or flavoring agents can be added (this recipe from Saveur calls for almond, lemon and vanilla extract).

Bake your own and take a lesson from Bill Cosby: do not steal a piece of pound cake, no matter how bad you want one.

What's on TV?
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Pssst! Got a sec to chat?

We are utterly thrilled when readers want to hang out and talk – whether it's amongst themselves or in response to pieces we've posted. We want Eatocracy to be a cozy, spirited online home for those who find their way here.

Consider the daily Coffee klatsch post as your VIP lounge – the primary comments thread for readers who'd like to chat about topics not related to the articles we're running. That way, everyone knows where to find each other, and each post's comments section remains on topic.
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