Curry aces cooked something cold and salty (6,3)

I believe the answer is:

baltic sea

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'something cold and salty' is the definition.
I can't judge whether this definition defines the answer.

'curry aces cooked' is the wordplay.
'curry' becomes 'balti'.
'cooked' indicates an anagram (letters cooked into a new form).
'aces' anagrammed gives 'csea'.
'balti'+'csea'='BALTIC SEA'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for baltic sea that I've seen before include "large amount of water" , "Salt water" , "watery expanse" , "Water between Poland and Scandinavia" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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