Let’s talk about Mise en Place. Mise en Place, pronounced "MEEZ ahn plahs," means having all your ingredients prepared and ready to go before you start cooking. Translated, "to put in place."
Now before you can even start preparing the ingredients for cooking, you want to make sure you have all the ingredients. This is the ultimate Mise en Place! I don’t think the great French chefs had this in mind when they came up with the term, but how many of you have started a recipe only to find out you were missing one or two of the key ingredients? So you jump in the car or call a neighbor and plead for some port wine that the beef tenderloin in a port wine reduction calls for. I’ve been there.
Mise en Place means far more than simply assembling all the ingredients, pots and pans, plates, and serving pieces needed for a particular period. Mise en Place is also a state of mind. Someone who has truly grasped the concept is able to keep many tasks in mind simultaneously, weighing and assigning each its proper value and priority. This assures that the chef has anticipated and prepared for every situation that could logically occur during a service period.
A good example of using this technique that we all seem to understand is making a simple sandwich. Think about it. You gather up all the ingredients you need and get them ready for assembly. You may have to make the tuna salad, slice the tomatoes, or grill the chicken, but you have all the makings before you even think of putting the sandwich together. Make sense? So why not apply the same technique to all your cooking.
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