Cooking 101: What is Mise en Place?

October 8, 2008

This post is part of a series called Cooking 101, which introduces the basics of cooking. The series follows the book Culinary Fundamentals, with supplements from The Professional Chef by the Culinary Institute of America. Check out the previous posts here.

Unit 13: Basic Mise en Place

Part 1: What is Mise en Place

Ed. Note: This is a re-post of an article I wrote before.  I just want to get it into the Cooking 101 series.

‘Mise en place’ is a term I learned about half a year ago, and while not complicated, it can seriously help your cooking. ‘Mise en place’ is a French phrase that literally means ‘put in place.’ In the culinary world, it means to have your ingredients ready for cooking before you begin. It’s what television chefs use to make their recipes look so easy when they effortlessly pour carefully cleaned, measured, and chopped vegetables, each sitting in its own bowl, into their dish of choice.

How to make a mise en place:

To start your mise en place, begin by gathering all the ingredients you’ll need. Besides for making your life easier by having them all in one place, you can check that you have everything before you start cooking. Once you have your ingredients together, prepare them so they are ‘cooking ready’, which can mean different things depending on what recipe your using, but its pretty easy to figure out.

Clean and chop any vegetables that need it, apportion out your spices, trim and slice any meat, etc. Have everything measured and ready to be used in separate bowls or cups (or combined if the ingredients are being cooked at the same time).

I understand that this sounds like a lot of work (and quite a few extra dishes), and…it is. Setting up your mise en place will probably add some time to your cooking and leave a few more dirty dishes. The key is figuring out when to use it and to what extent.

When and how much?

I find the most useful time to create a full mise en place is when I’m trying a new recipe. When I’m not sure of the timing of things, with how long I’ll have to prepare ingredients when others are cooking, it is helpful to have everything ready at the beginning. I made a sautéed vegetable medley the other day with eggplant, zucchini, onions, and peppers, and because I hadn’t cooked with eggplant before, I created a mise en place with all the vegetables.

When you are preparing foods that you’ve made before, a sufficient mise en place is much easier. You only have to prepare ingredients first that you know you won’t have time to ready while cooking. For example, if I am making some pasta with a homemade tomato sauce, I know I can set my water on high heat, then chop the garlic, saute it, and add the rest of the ingredients to the sauce before the water is boiling. It isn’t a complicated recipe, but I know the timing so I don’t have to create a mise en place.

Advantages of a mise en place:

• Less stressful cooking
• Know that you have all the necessary ingredients
• Won’t overcook foods while trying to prepare the next ingredient
• Can be modified to fit recipes that you are comfortable with

Disadvantages of a mise en place:

• More dishes
• Takes extra time to prepare

Posted in Cooking 101, Techniques |