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Dinner for example that is eaten in South Africa (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mealie

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'eaten in south africa' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't understand how one could define the other.

'dinner for example that is' is the wordplay.
'dinner for example' becomes 'meal' (dinner is a kind of meal).
'that is' becomes 'ie' (short for Latin 'id est', 'that is').
'meal'+'ie'='MEALIE'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mealie that I've seen before include "South African corn" , "Lee, aim for an ear of maize" , "Corncob" , "bit of cereal" , "South African maize" .)

I've seen this clue in The Globe and Mail.
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