Whaler's sort of cooked meal (7)
I believe the answer is:
ishmael
'whaler's' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'sort of cooked meal' is the wordplay.
'sort of' becomes 'ish' (eg newish means sort of new).
'cooked' indicates an anagram (letters cooked into a new form).
'meal' anagrammed gives 'mael'.
'ish'+'mael'='ISHMAEL'
(Other definitions for ishmael that I've seen before include "Hagar's son" , "'Call me . . . . . . .' (first line of Moby Dick)" , "Abraham's son; Moby Dick narrator" , "Bellicose sort" , "Moby Dick's narrator, and Abraham's eldest son" .)