I meant to blend and incorporate a number in the food (7)

'food' is the definition.
(aliment is a kind of food)

'i meant to blend and incorporate a number in the' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'i' could be 'me' and 'me' is present in the answer.
'and' could be 'n' (common abbreviation for 'and') and 'n' is found in the answer.
'a' is present in the answer.
'number' could be 'l' (L is an example) and 'l' is found in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is present in the answer.
A single letter 'i' remains which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?