Cryptic crossword clue
Cooking two fish to cover starter for dinner 8

The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 8 letter word CODDLING

I've seen this crossword clue in The Times
C
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The straight part
We know that "Cooking" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case cooking = coddling.
The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.
This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.

What does CODDLING mean?

CODDLING verb
  1. To treat gently or with great care.
  2. To cook slowly in hot water that is below the boiling point.
  3. To exercise excessive or damaging authority in an attempt to protect. To overprotect.
CODDLING noun
  1. The act of one who coddles or pampers.
CODDLING noun
  1. A young small cod.
  2. A hake (cod-related food fish), notably from the genus Urophycis.
CODDLING noun
  1. A small, immature apple
  2. Any of various greenish, elongated English apple varieties, used for cooking

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