In the cooking dad was all for this culinary classic (7,5)
I believe the answer is:
waldorf salad
'culinary classic' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how they can define each other.
'in the cooking dad was all for' is the wordplay.
'in the cooking' indicates anagramming the letters (letters must be cooked or processed).
'dad'+'was'+'all'+'for'='dadwasallfor'
'dadwasallfor' anagrammed gives 'WALDORF SALAD'.
'this' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for waldorf salad that I've seen before include "Vegetarian dish of celery, apples, walnuts and mayonnaise" , "Apples, celery, walnuts and mayo" , "Mix of apples, walnuts, celery, etc" , "eats" .)