Filthy state of food container finally made chefs cross (10)
I believe the answer is:
grubbiness
'filthy state' is the definition.
'grubbiness' can be an answer for 'state' (grubbiness is a kind of state). I am not sure about the 'filthy' bit.
'food container finally made chefs cross' is the wordplay.
'food' becomes 'grub' (grub can informally mean food).
'container' becomes 'bin' (bin is a type of container).
'finally' says to take the final letters.
The final letters of 'made chefs cross' are 'ess'.
'grub'+'bin'+'ess'='GRUBBINESS'
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for grubbiness that I've seen before include "Grimy appearance" , "Grimy state" , "disreputable state" .)