Four male cooks creating recipes (8)
I believe the answer is:
formulae
'recipes' is the definition.
('formula' can be a synonym of 'recipe')
'four male cooks' is the wordplay.
'cooks' indicates anagramming the letters.
'four'+'male'='fourmale'
'fourmale' anagrammed gives 'FORMULAE'.
'creating' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for formulae that I've seen before include "Tried and tested methods" , "Mathematical relationships or rules stated in symbols" , "Recipes" , "Maths relationships" , "Rules expressed in symbols and figures" .)