Edible substance to take shape, a preserve (7)

I believe the answer is:

gelatin

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'preserve' is the definition.
(thesaurus)

'edible substance to take shape a' is the wordplay.
'edible substance' becomes 'tin' (tin is a kind of substance. I am not sure about the 'edible' bit.).
'to' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'take shape' becomes 'gel' (I've seen this before).
'gel'+'a'='gela'
'tin' after 'gela' is 'GELATIN'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for gelatin that I've seen before include "Thickener" , "something gluey" , "Tag line (anag.); glue" , "Organic glue used in foodstuffs" , "Colourless protein extracted from animal bones" .)

I've seen this clue in The Guardian.

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