Spicy food by northern sea (6)
I believe the answer is:
baltic
'northern sea' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'spicy food' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'food' could be 'balti' (I've seen this before) and 'balti' is located in the answer.
A single letter 'c' 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).
'by' acts as a link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for baltic that I've seen before include "Sea in N.Europe" , "water, lots" , "Northern European sea" , "Almost land-locked sea of Scandinavia" , "Cab lit up the sea" .)