491-Mise En Place-Why does it matter?
I have mentioned the term “mise en place” before and emphasized how important it is if you plan on becoming a better cook. It means “everything in its place” and is the foundation of the French culinary discipline. Anyone who has worked in a professional kitchen knows this term and uses this discipline daily.
The degree to which it’s followed says something about the chef or cook, it allows anyone watching to understand whether or not this person is ready to make a dish in an efficient manner. Mise en place allows the chef to confidently perform and reduces the possibility of a timing issue that can affect performance and the dish itself.
“Mise en place is a French culinary phrase that means "putting in place" or "gathering". It refers to the setup required before cooking and is often used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing and arranging the ingredients (e.g., cuts of meat, relishes, sauces, par-cooked items, spices, freshly chopped vegetables, and other components) that a cook will require for the menu items that are expected to be prepared during a shift.”
-wikipedia
Over the years I have hired or promoted many, many chefs in restaurants that serve all types of food. From concessions to Forbes 4-star. During the hiring process, I and other culinarians determine a potential chef or cook’s abilities to do the job they are seeking first by looking at his mise or station. In a higher-level position, we always ask the applicant to cook for us.
For example, we’d ask for a breakfast dish, a lunch dish, and dinner entree, or appetizer, or a combo of all these things. We even would put themes on these dish requests, maybe rustic, maybe refined, maybe ethnic, maybe dietary preference. But overall, we look at the applicant’s mise en place, the “kitchen dance” and then the maintenance of his or her station. If any of these two items are not top-notch, chances are this person will be passed over. By the way “kitchen dance” is how the person moves about in the kitchen. Could be slow and casual, like a sloth, or more purposeful like a military walk, quick, athletic, etc.
photo credit-wikipedia
Of course in this example of mise en place, I describe a professional kitchen environment, but likely you are not in this type of business and by and large just cooking at home, so why would you care about mise en place? In my professional opinion, mise en place has its place (pun intended) in the home kitchen as well.
I can’t tell you how many times I have witnessed people cooking amid a mess or disorganization and missing tools, ingredients, etc. Starting a dish then looking for missing ingredients to drop into a bowl or pan or what have you. In a prior life, this would really annoy me, since I have aged like a fine wine I am more tolerant of messy cooks, but it still does bother me a bit if I am honest.