Mise en place is a French term for preparing all the ingredients before you start cooking your meal. This includes:
Peeling
Cutting
Washing
Measuring
Slicing
Grating
Preparing your kitchen utensils is also part of mise en place. Which mean you need to get your utensils ready for use when needed. Utensils like:
Bowls
Pots/pans
Containers
Chopping board
Special kitchen equipment e.g. blender, electric whisk
Mise en place is practised in restaurants, cooking classes, professional kitchen, cooking shows and you probably use it in your own house but without acknowledging the technical term for it. This term is used to discipline a chef to be organised before they start preparing a meal or cooking in the kitchen. This process saves time while you are cooking and also it makes the whole cooking or baking process less stressful. Trust me. This process makes cooking easier as everything you need will be a quick grab. Everything for your meal will be prepared before hand.
Why “mise en place” is important?
As i said above, it saves time, instead of going back and fourth in the kitchen and juggling a lot. Using this process shows that you are organised. It’s one of the important things you need to know in the kitchen, as it will help you see that you are not missing anything. It is advisable that you should have a list of the things that you need and tick as you go. This way you make sure that you have everything you need. Instead of going to the store or to your neighbour in the middle of preparing your meal, everything will be next to you ready to be used.
A last minute preparation is one of the main reason you forget what's required for the meal you want to cook. Causing you to run around the kitchen looking for what you have forgotten. This gives you unnecessary extra work. Just make sure you don’t over cook your meal looking for an ingredient you need for your meal.