What is Mise En Place?

Image above: an example of mise en place. Photo courtesy Don LaVange on Flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 Generic.

Mise en place is not just about preparing ingredients but also making sure all other aspects of a recipe's preparation are ready to go. Utensils such as spatulas, spoons, pans and strainers are assembled and lined up for use; ovens are preheated to the proper temperature; serving platters are cleaned, stacked, and warmed as necessary. This might seem like a lot of "bother" to go through before even beginning to cook, but think of a professional kitchen environment where many plates may need to be prepared and assembled at once. To have to keep chopping vegetables, searching for spices, or finding necessary pots and pans can slow down the process, and also introduce mistakes easily.

Preparing your mise en place is also helpful for a beginning chef, or when you are trying out a new recipe for the first time. You begin by reviewing the recipe, and determining if you have all necessary ingredients and equipment before beginning. By chopping, dicing, and measuring out ingredients, herbs and spices in advance, it allows you to focus exclusively on the cooking process itself once begun. As such, you are less likely to overcook things because you've forgotten you need to wash and chop some parsley before continuing, for example - or suddenly realize you're out of the red wine required to deglaze a pan.

Mise en place is also useful in other ways. Perhaps you're hosting a dinner party and have dishes that need to be prepared at the last minute - but you don't want to waste all your time with your guests in the kitchen, or get distracted with conversation if they join you there while you're cooking. Having your mise en place ready to go before your guests arrive can make the cooking process go much more smoothly - and guaranty that your dishes come out the way you intended them to.

However, there are those who argue that mise en place is a "waste of time" for the home chef, at least in most situations. Even well-known chef and cookbook author Sara Moulton agrees! Certainly there are times when it can be more time-efficient to "prepare-as-you-go"; for instance, in preparing a slow-cooked stew or other dish where ingredients are added perhaps 10 minutes, 20 minutes or even an hour apart, you can do the necessary later preparation while the first-added ingredients are cooking. You might not even want to leave items like shellfish or seafood added at the last minute out at room temperature that long!

Another complaint about mise en place for the home chef is that it makes too many dishes to clean up after a meal - and there's no dishwasher on duty except the chef him or herself! Some also find it impractical in a small kitchen where counter space may be extremely limited and needed for actual cooking work itself. That said, some find the act of preparing mise en place very enjoyable and almost soothing; when my mother is getting ready to cook, she washes her veggies and brings them, her cutting board and her mise en place bowls into the living room to sit and prepare things while watching tv! That way she can relax and really carefully prepare everything in a comfortable space, before getting down to the work of cooking over the stove in a tight space.

These videos illustrate the practices and philosophy of mise en place, in use in professional and home kitchens.

Of course you can use any small bowls, cups, plates and trays for preparing your mise en place at home. But, if you do a lot of cooking and want to get serious about it, you might want to invest in some special bowls and dishes just to use for this purpose. Look for small bowls that are easily to stack for storage, quick to clean, and available in a variety of sizes. Here are some great products from Amazon to consider:

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