Crossword Genius

Said juices escape from the vegetable (4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

leek

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

'the vegetable' is the definition.
(leek is a kind of vegetable)

'said juices escape from' is the wordplay.
I cannot really understand how this works, but
'from' could be 'e' (I've seen this in other clues) and 'e' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'lek' 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 leek that I've seen before include "Vegetable related to the onion" , "One of the veggies" , "Plant (onion relative) eaten as a vegetable" , "Plant; Welsh emblem" , "Welsh symbolic vegetable" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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