A person who cooks, especially in a professional or institutional setting. Slightly formal; in casual contexts 料理人 or コック are more common.
The school lunch cooks prepare large quantities of food every day.
At this restaurant, the cooks serve dishes that make use of local ingredients.
Compound of 調理 (cooking, food preparation) and 者 (person). The exact historical derivation is uncertain, but the word follows a standard pattern for forming agent nouns.