Food the German provided — a possible first course? (7)
I believe the answer is:
chowder
'a possible first course?' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'food the german' is the wordplay.
'food' becomes 'chow' (chow can informally mean food).
'the german' becomes 'der' ('the' in German).
'chow'+'der'='CHOWDER'
'provided' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for chowder that I've seen before include "dish in America" , "Rich soup with fish, clams etc." , "clammy" , "possible first course?" , "Clam stew, soup" .)