News

AIP SECURES SECOND CONTRACT WITH ANTHEM SCHOOLS TRUST

We're delighted to have secured a second contract with Anthem Schools Trust, a multi academy trust with 16 primary and secondary schools located across the East Midlands and London Thames Valley.

The new win is for the 600-student strong Gladstone Park Primary School in Brent, where AiP will be introducing its new look Food Smart primary school branding.

AiP already provides school food at St Mark’s CE Academy, Mitcham, also part of the Anthem Schools Trust.

 

WEST MIDLANDS PRIMARY SCHOOL MEALS BUSINESS WINS FOR AIP

AIP has recently secured primary school business in the West Midlands worth almost £600,000.

There are six new contract wins in Walsall, Kings Heath, Birmingham, Stoke on Trent, Tamworth, Solihull and Dudley. 

All the schools will see new look AiP ‘Food Smart’ primary school branding in the dining and serving areas, along with menus featuring freshly cooked meals made, where possible, from locally sourced ingredients.

Five of the schools hold silver Food for Life status, while one is a bronze Food for Life school. Two of the schools will be adopting AiP’s School Food United on-line parent portal programme, which aims to support families and make paying for school food easier. School Food United encourages a collaborative approach between AiP, its clients, and the wider parents and pupil community, to help drive uptake of paid and free school meals.

Matt Garner, Managing Director – Sodexo Government Schools & Alliance in Partnership said:

“These new business wins are great news for AiP in a tough year for schools meals provision. Our focus is on delivering AiP’s fresh food principles in each of the schools, by offering a three-course lunch service with daily salad bar and home cooked bread along with breakfast service in a couple of the contracts too. We’ll also be supporting schools with their healthy eating policies and encouraging meal uptake through theme days and special events.”

AMY'S DESERT ISLAND DISHES!

Amy Teichman, AiP’s Quality and Nutrition Manager tells us about the favourite dishes that would see her through being stranded on a desert island – assuming she had a kitchen and an inexhaustible supply of ingredients!

Moules Mariniere – I love all fish and seafood so island living would be wonderful for me! This is my favourite dish as it’s light, simple, salty, and creamy. It reminds me of the south of France, sitting outside, looking at the Mediterranean.

Iles Flottantes As I’m allergic to chocolate, I’m not a big dessert eater, but this is AMAZING! Light and not too sweet, it combines a lot of basic dessert staples, but which need to be perfected for it to work. The Crème Anglaise must be smooth and velvety, the meringue needs to be light and soft. The caramel topping cannot be too hard nor too soft either.
Frisee Salad with Poached Egg and Fried Lardon – Another French dish featuring quality ingredients. Poaching eggs is probably one of the first things you master in a professional kitchen and when done correctly, one tap and that oozing egg yolk emerges, it’s heavenly. Crisp, salty lardon are a perfect addition to the bitter Frisee leaves, with a light French dressing and a very generous portion of cracked black pepper to finish.
Grilled Octopus with Balsamic Grilled Radicchio – I was chef of an Italian restaurant in New York and this was a dish we made from Puglia. The octopus is briefly marinated in a red wine vinaigrette and brushed with marinade-soaked parsley leaf whilst it grills. The Italians are incredibly inventive when it comes to cooking greens and leaves; the grilled radicchio enhances the bitterness of the leaves and then finished with the lovely sweetness of a well-aged balsamic vinegar.

Spaghetti con Bottarga – This is my FAVOURITE pasta of all time. It transports me to when one of the owners of the restaurant in New York where I was working made it for me. I can still taste it now even when I think about it 20 years later! The texture of the pasta (cooked al dente) along with the intense flavour of the Bottarga (salted and cured fish eggs) and some beautifully light Sicilian olive oil, was unlike anything I’d had before.

Fried Chicken – I come from the south of the USA and this is a staple. But my fried chicken is not like you would find on the high street! The chicken must be on the bone (it’s juicier), the batter must include buttermilk and the flour mixture must have enough salt and lots of peppers (cayenne, black, and chipotle if you need some smokiness). Finally, you need to fry the chicken in lard. It is not for the faint hearted or those on a diet. With this dish, I am instantly back home in my Grandmother’s kitchen – the greatest cook I’ve ever known.

Cornbread Stuffing – Cornbread stuffing was one of the first dishes I learned to make as a child for Thanksgiving. My Grandmother had to combine two different stuffing recipes to appease some in-laws when her family grew and this recipe has been in use every Thanksgiving since, for more than 40 years and I still make it every year. It uses buttery homemade cornbread and fresh home baked white bread. This gives it a great texture. When finished with sage and homemade chicken stock, it is lovely.

Whiskey Spiced Pecans – I love to snack, and nuts are one of my favourites. These spicy pecans, laced with cinnamon and Jack Daniels (another southern favourite) started out as a topping for my Thanksgiving sweet potatoes but I’ve adapted them to be eaten on their own. I make them throughout the holiday season.

What one luxury item would you want?

I would like a very good quality red wine vinegar as it enhances everything it touches; it can add a lot to cooking and it can be reduced down for a great sauce on anything from greens to meats.

Which one book would you take with you?

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

This has been my favourite book since I first read it at 12. I used to re-read it every year when I was in my teens. I loved the writing, it kept me on the edge of my seat. The story is an adventure from start to finish. The lasting impression of mercy and forgiveness are lessons we all need to remind ourselves of daily. It was also the first time I had a chance to analyse a book versus its cinematic portrayal and it solidified my belief that the book is always better.

If you could only have one of these dishes which would it be?

Moules Mariniere hands down. I could eat this for every meal for the rest of my life and never grow tired of it. It has everything I could ever want in a dish: quality simplicity, and elegance.

 

 

 

AiP Serves Food from the Globe at Shakespeare's School

AiP has secured the contract at King Edward VI School, a state funded academy trust in Stratford-upon Avon, known as Shakespeare’s School. The school was recently recognised as The Sunday Times’ Parent Power ’State School of the Decade’.

We started the fast mobilisation in October half term, with the contract going live in November 2020.

All boys from Years 7-11, with a co-educational Sixth Form, King Edward VI is an outstanding school with a strong emphasis on developing the individual student.

A varied and exciting food offering using locally sourced ingredients where possible was an important part of the brief to AiP.  The company has introduced its Feed Me secondary school branding in the main dining area where a range of home-made dishes are being served, from traditional roasts with all the trimmings through to Teriyaki Pork and Noodles. Chef’s roast chicken dinner has been a particular favourite, with the boys eating their way through 14kg of vegetables in one day alone!

AiP’s sixth form branding called The Forum will be rolled out into the Sixth Form dining room in the new year and students will be surveyed on what they would like in their designated centre – such as bean to cup coffee and grab and go food.  

“The boys at K.E.S have really enjoyed the varied menus on offer and have been around the globe trying traditional British fare, Mediterranean, Asian, Mexicana and Indian food. The school places a lot of importance on students eating together, learning about meal ‘etiquette’ and enjoying a range of different cuisines. It has been a great opportunity for us to really showcase our capabilities and to also see the students enjoying the food so much”, explains Sally Tyson, AiP's Key Client Director