Mise-en-what-the-JUNK!?! I remember my first day in culinary school. I had come a long ways in the kitchen since my early newlywed and FRG days but that didn’t keep the nerves in check. I was flustered. And then … chef started throwing FRENCH at me. I mean I know a couple of French phrases because well you all know I love the French but whatever he was saying was gibberish. I felt like the Madagascar penguins… smile and wave. You know the feeling. It is unnerving.It took me all of 5 minutes to realize I better figure it out real fast. Chef didn’t seem like the dish throwing chef-y type but he didn’t seem like he was playing either. So Mise en place it was. We were told to use the recipes for the day to get started. Chop this, mince that, puree of the other thing. Good golly geez.
Okay. HUSTLE HUSTLE!There. Done.
I looked down at my station which was spotless and now I had this array of ingredients chopped, minced, julienned, sliced and beautified! And I hear chef say in my ear, “Well done. Your mise en place looks great!” I did it. Whatever it was– I did it.After a few days of this (I am a slow learner), I realized we were pre-prepping our recipes and calling it a sexy French name in the process.The biggest things I learned about this French term is it made my life in the kitchen way easier. Could you imagine running to the pantry to get one ingredient, measuring it and then going to get the next one or worse is starting to actually cook without all of your ingredients. That is just a mess waiting to happen. But we do it all the time don’t we?!
Mise en place changed my life with power in the kitchen. I want to pass this power on to you. I promise if you mess it up I won’t throw dishes at you. But if you adapt this process you will work faster and more efficiently in your kitchen.
Mise en place in 6 easy steps:
1. Read our recipe through at least one time in entirety. This is super critical especially if it is a dish you have never made or if you are not familiar with the recipe. Recipes can have twists and turns. Sometimes I hear about home chefs destroying a dish and I will say… “Did you read the recipe before you started.” The answer is usually – nope. If we don’t start with a read through of the direction, then how can you possibly expect to execute those directions?
2. Choose your workspace. This is pretty simple. Where will you prep your recipe?? Decide now.
3. Gather the groceries. Have you ever seen the cooking show “Cutthroat Kitchen” where they have to run into the pantry to get all of their ingredients all at once? This is what you are going to do. Don’t forget anything. Get everything you need at one time. Use your recipe as a reference. Gather everything. I mean EVERYTHING to include the “salt and pepper to taste.” Get that salt and pepper ready. We will need it.
4. Gather any bowls, cookware or utensils. Since you have read the recipe you have an idea of what you will need as far as measuring spoons, cookware, mixing bowls, cups and such. Grab it all now.
5. Get it ready! You have all of your ingredients out but you will not be using a full head of lettuce in your salad. You will need to measure ingredients, crack eggs, and perform knife cuts. When you are done with this step you should have everything measured out. If your recipe calls for 3 sliced onions you will have them sliced and separated into a bowl. If you were to read back through your recipe and look down at your workstation you should see each ingredient as it is noted in the recipe.
6. Final thoughts. Is there anything that isn’t mentioned in the recipe that you think you might need or want to add to the recipe along the way? This is where you need to grab it.Once you have everything in your workstation ready to go then and only then are you ready to start mixing ingredients or applying heat to your ingredients.
Mise en place is a silly French term that packs a punch. It will create efficiency in your workspace. Imagine having EVERYTHING ready to go once you turn on the heat. It really is magic. I would love to see you give it a try and give me feedback. Does it make a difference in your own kitchen creations?? |
