Leave apes awful food (5,4)

I believe the answer is:

split peas

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'food' is the definition.
I know nothing about this answer so I can't tell whether it can be defined by this definition.

'leave apes awful' is the wordplay.
'leave' becomes 'split' (I've seen this before).
'awful' indicates an anagram.
'apes' with letters rearranged gives 'peas'.
'split'+'peas'='SPLIT PEAS'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for split peas that I've seen before include "Dried vegetables" , "What's in the soup" .)

I've seen this clue in The Daily Express.

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