Mise en place, or “everything in it’s place”

“Mise en place” is a French term meaning “everything in it’s place”.

This is a very sacred thing to live by in the professional kitchen. It has to do with your set up to go into a service. If you don’t have things that need to be cut or done ahead of time so that you aren’t doing it in the middle of a service, you will probably fall far behind very quickly. Trying to feed 300 people a mass of different meals in a few hours takes preparation. 

This also works very well at home but in a much more stress free environment. Setting up your ingredients in containers all pre-measured as I’m sure most of you have seen by watching anyone cook on tv, is a way to help ensure you always have what you need when you need it. As there are many things that have specific timing needed with them whenever cooking.

For example, cutting things ahead of time is a real time saver. It is also a finger-saver. If you happen to have not pre-cut things that you may need at a specific time, then you could find yourself rushing. And rushing is when accidents happen. This would be when you give yourself that really nasty cut that can really trip you up and debilitate your hands. When all you wanted was a simple chopped carrot. adding to this, remember that a dull knife means a higher ability for slipping and having an accident.

It is something to live by in all parts of life. Keeping things arranged before you need them will help keep things closer to plan in the end. It can keep what may go awry easier to manage when they poke their heads through those annoying cracks.

Use this in all recipes. Such as in my Dutch oven chicken recipe. https://nordicamericanchef.com/?p=131

“Mise En Place” is a rule we can all live with in our lives. Though admittedly, most of us do not. Including yours truly.