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French way, we hear, to dig in leafy veg (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

rhubarb

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'veg' is the definition.
(I know that rhubarb is a type of veg)

'french way we hear to dig in leafy' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'dig' could be 'barb' (synonyms) and 'barb' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'rhu' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for rhubarb that I've seen before include "rot" , "Pie filling" , "muttered by 4 [EXTRAS] ?" , "extra speech?" , "Plant with edible leaf stalk" .)

I've seen this clue in The Sunday Times and The Times.
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