Crossword Genius

The Count in summer produced sample of the menu from The Centre (6)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pollen

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

'menu from the centre' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I cannot understand how one could define the other.

'the count in summer produced sample of' is the wordplay.
'the count' becomes 'poll' (poll is a kind of count).
'in summer produced sample of' becomes 'en' (I can't explain this - if you can you should give a lot more credence to this answer).
'poll'+'en'='POLLEN'

'the' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pollen that I've seen before include "Fertilising dust from flower" , "Fine powder produced by the anthers of seed-bearing plants" , "Powder from flowers" , "Cause of hay fever" , "Powdery stuff produced by plants" .)

I've seen this clue in The Irish Times.
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