The Culinary Works

Mise en Place!  What the heck is that?  Well, it's a performance standard in the cooking world.  This is one of the first culinary terms students in culinary school learn.  Mise in Place is a French term meaning, everything in its place.  In other words, organized, prepared, etc.

Why is this so important you ask?  For several reasons and truly it is one of those small things that can help you be sucessful in the kitchen.

Before I begin to cook, I make sure I have all of my ingredients prepared to go into the recipe.  My onions are chopped, my spices are ready etc.  If I am baking, my ingredients are measured/scaled out and sifted.  Just like you see on TV, the ingredients are sitting there waiting for you.  When I begin assembling my recipe, I never have to stop and go find something or chop somethng or measure something.

When you are cooking, the danger in stopping to go find something is that the other ingredients are cooking away, maybe overcooking, maybe burning, all while you search for that clove of garlic.  In both cases, whether baking or cooking, the big danger is that you forget or leave an ingredient out.  In baking, leaving out an ingredient can be disasterous but in either situation, your recipes are not going to be as sucessful.  Once you start preparing your recipe, your total focus should be on that and that alone.  That will help you execute the method or technique properly.

This is why we teach our students, from day one, to get Mise en Place'd.  Truth be told, I use it on my son regarding his bedroom as well.