Dear all,
Try to think like a chef in a luxurious restaurant, ensuring accuracy is an iron rule.
A successful kitchen works like a well-oiled machine. Everything has to work in coordination and timing. In order to do this, a cook must be neat, efficient, economical, clean, and conscious.
In chef schools, these habits are instilled into a way of life, known in French as Mise en place.
In loose translation, Mise-en-Place means “Everything is in place”.
Meaning, the order of actions that the cook must perform in preparation for cooking in the kitchen. The intention is to pre-weigh, cut, and arrange all the utensils and ingredients needed to prepare the dish, the way it goes into the pot or is assembled, so once you light the flame you don’t have to do anything – just
schedule the addition of ingredients, mix, smell and observe.
Creating Mise en Place will hinder the realization of familiar scenarios with destructive potential: turning the pantry in search of lentils just when it’s their turn to join the pot, scorching the onion while you’re busy cutting carrots, or overcooking the pasta while you take the strainer out of the cupboard or
dishwasher.
So, what should we do?
- Read the recipe ahead of time. As a “preliminary tour” to prevent surprises and
complete shopping. - Organize the materials within reach.
- Weigh and measure what is needed.
- Peel, cut and brew – this is most of the work, it is the critical list in recipes. You will cut it anyway, so it is best not to do it under fire but before the actual cooking time.
- Manage the work surface: Arrange the prepared ingredients in bowls, I try to create a “chronological” order – organize them in a row that progresses towards the stove, in the order in which the recipe is used.
- Things that go into the pan together can be in the same bowl.
- Organize the ingredients and utensils on the work surface so that they can be cooked without moving. Everything is within reach, waiting for the critical actions.
- Collect the cookware.
- Imagine the actions: Does the pan need a spoon, a spatula, or tongs? What will you mix in a bowl with? Need oven gloves? Cloth to wipe?
- Look what happens when you finish arranging:
So, what should we do?
The work surface is also the recipe, and the recipe becomes a reminder.
What remains is only to cook comfortably, that all your attention is solely in the cooking process.
You’ll have tastier food, I promise.
Adopt this method, I assure you that the craft of cooking will be more accurate,
economical, efficient, and fun.
Good Luck
