What could be eaten off a fine plate after cooking? (5)
I believe the answer is:
pilaf
'cooking?' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Perhaps you can see an association between them that I don't see?
'what could be eaten off a fine plate' is the wordplay.
'what could be' indicates an anagram.
'off' indicates named letters should be taken away.
'a'+'fine'+'plate'='afineplate'
'afineplate' with 'eaten' taken away is 'fipla'.
'fipla' is an anagram of 'PILAF'.
'after' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for pilaf that I've seen before include "exotic dish)" , "Spiced rice dish" .)