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Victorian cuisine: scoff a kind of dove, very excited (4,6,4)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

mock turtle soup

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

'victorian cuisine' is the definition.
The definition and answer can be both things that one consumes for nourishment as well as being singular nouns.
Maybe they are linked in a way I don't understand?

'scoff a kind of dove very excited' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'scoff' could be 'mock' (I've seen this before) and 'mock' is found in the answer.
'of' could be 'o' and 'o' is present in the answer.
'excited' could be 'up' and 'up' is present in the answer.
The remaining letters 'turtles' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for mock turtle soup that I've seen before include "starter" , "for which bovine head is used as substitute" , "First course" .)

I've seen this clue in The Everyman puzzle in The Observer.
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