Incompetent constable to follow English food writer (8)
I believe the answer is:
dogberry
'incompetent constable' is the definition.
(I know that Dogberry is bumbling)
'follow english food writer' is the wordplay.
'follow' becomes 'dog' (dog can mean to follow or torment).
'english food writer' becomes 'berry' (I can't justify this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'dog'+'berry'='DOGBERRY'
'to' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dogberry that I've seen before include "Wild fruit; pompous person" , ""Much Ado" policeman" , "Fruity" , "Foolish constable" , "role for Shakespearian comic" .)