One day while I was in culinary school, my roommate proudly walked into our room to show off her new tattoo. Across the length of her inner right forearm, in sweeping black calligraphy, were the words “mise en place.”
Any person who has spent time cooking in a professional kitchen knows the term “mise en place” (pronounced meez awn plahz), French for “putting in place” or “everything in place.” It can be a noun - “do you have your mise ready for service?” or a verb, “mise the veg for the risotto.” At it’s most basic, “mise” refers to the components a cook needs to execute a dish or prepare a recipe. Ask any chef to pontificate on the term, however, and you’ll hear everything from state of mind, to philosophy, to a Jedi code.
When I taught culinary students, I drilled this definition of “mise en place” into their minds: “The pre-visualization and preparation of every action and component needed to successfully and efficiently execute a task.” I asked some local chefs how they defined “mise en place” - here is what they had to say.
Austin Alan Hamblin - The Muddled Pig Gastropub
"As a career chef, mise en place is taught and instilled from the second you enter culinary school and then again on your first day in a professional kitchen. They’re not only words to live by, but a way of life. When a professional chef prepares a dish for service, they gather all the tools and ingredients needed to finish it, without moving from the station they are in. If you’re running all over the kitchen looking for stuff that you should have had on hand, it increases ticket times, it’s unprofessional, and makes the job harder than it already is.”
Christy Augustin - Pint Size Bakery
"For bakers, mise en place means you have to have not just all your ingredients scaled before you start mixing, but your baking pans ready to go, your oven at the right temp, the timer at the ready. An often overlooked mise is getting your mind set and ready to work. Are you paying attention? Is your game on point? Are you focused and in the moment? Part of my ritual is putting on my uniform, tying my hair in a handkerchief, putting on an apron and side towel, grabbing a sharpie and the last thing, a smile. 'Cuz being a grouch doesn't take you anywhere fun."
Bob Brazell - Byrd & Barrel
"To me it means “everything in its place,” not just raw ingredients. As an owner/operator that means everything from food cost, labor cost, food prep, food quality, employee quality of life, event coordination - everything. It’s the heartbeat of the business."
Adam Gnau - Acero
"Order. Forethought. Being 'boy scout' prepared. Knowing what’s going to happen before it happens. It’s like seeing into the future. An attempt to eliminate the stress out of everything. When most people cook there is no system. My mom gets into the kitchen and she goes batshit crazy. There is no order, no process, no steps. She’ll make mashed potatoes for thanksgiving and she’ll have the potatoes made at noon but dinner is at six. Mise en place is order. In the kitchen and in your life."
Jenny Cleveland – Cleveland-Heath
"Thinking about the process of making something from start to finish, not as you go, is mise en place. It’s making sure you have all the components for your recipe, so if you get distracted or pulled away you can come back to an organized station and know where you were because everything is in front of you, and you’re not making a million different trips. It entails thinking about what you’ll need to do even before you come into work—I'm going to need to make this or I know we’re low on this. If you applied mise to every aspect of your life, you’d accomplish things faster and more efficiently."
Matt Borchardt - Edibles & Essentials
"It’s funny, teaching culinary arts for as many years as I did this was a term spoken and preached hundreds of times a day. Sure, the term means putting everything in its place, physically. But that’s only half of it. The other half is mental, and it’s just as important. If your head is not on tight, you haven’t given any thought to the plating procedures or haven’t learned how your line mates cook, you’re in trouble. The mental part actually needs to come first. Young culinarians often take this term too literally and forget the big picture. Learning the big picture of what mise en place takes is key to being successful, no matter the industry. Learning it doesn't happen overnight, but when it happens and it clicks, success follows."
