Crossword Genius

Mother following Ford to order tropical spice (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

cardamom

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'tropical spice' is the definition.
'cardamom' can be an answer for 'spice' (I've seen this before). I am not certain of the 'tropical' bit.

'mother following ford to order' is the wordplay.
'mother' becomes 'dam' (female parent of an animal).
'following' is a charade indicator (letters next to each other).
'ford' becomes 'car' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'to order' becomes 'om' (Order of Merit).
'dam' after 'car' is 'cardam'.
'cardam'+'om'='CARDAMOM'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for cardamom that I've seen before include "Seeds used as spice" , "Roc, Madam, may become a herb" , "Spice; a mad corm (anag.)" , "spicy stuff" , "something spicy" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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