I just recently learned about mise en place while reading Alice Waters' book The Art of Simple Food. It's a French phrase that simply means 'put in place'. The concept behind mise en place is equally simple: organize everything BEFORE you begin cooking.
By putting everything in its place beforehand you can minimize the the stress of cooking and allow for a pleasant and even meditative experience, or so they say. I've always been terrible at mise en place. In my eagerness to prepare I new recipe, I tend to just jump right in with as little preparation as possible. This lack of forethought is why my kitchen is often unsafe for children's ears.
Tonight, when making chicken and white bean chili, I decided to implement mise en place for the first time. Even after just one imperfect implementation, I am sold on its importance. Though I've slowly been enjoying cooking more and more as I've learned how to do things, tonight's experience was by far the best I've had in the kitchen to date.
It's really a very simple concept that I implement regularly in other aspects of my life, I'm a little embarrassed that I never thought of doing this in the kitchen. But now that I've learned the value of putting everything in it's place before starting to cook, I will become a regular practitioner.
The best way to explain why tonight was such a great experience is to compare a normal night of cooking with how I did things tonight. The two nights starts would start off fairly similarly. I would check the recipe to make sure the oven didn't need pre-heating (I learned this on my own after countless time of needing a hot oven and not having one) and then checking to see what might need chopped, diced, what have you. After this is done the two nights take entirely different paths.
On a normal night I would need the tablespoon measuring spoon and would find it dirty in the sink from when I used it at lunch, or a similar story with a saucepan or my favorite wooden spoon. I would discover that an integral seasoning that I was positive we had was nowhere to be found and being an amateur I would have to frantically Google suitable replacements, or simply do without. It is also not uncommon for me to forget an ingredient altogether and wonder why things don't taste quite right once I'm at the table.
On the mise en place night I put all the chopped ingredients in a bowl ready to go right night to the stove. I laid out all the seasonings I needed so I knew before anything was started that I had them all. To go the full distance with mise en place, I should have measured everything out beforehand and had it ready to just dump in, but in the interest of saving dishes and because it was really a simple dish, I just laid out the measuring implements I needed beforehand (and yes, they were clean ;)).
Tonight I also made sure all cans for canned goods were open so there was no frantic fumbling with the can opener at the last minute. I also made sure that my work area was clear of everything but what I needed for this particular dish so that there was no confusion.
I was amazed at how smoothly everything went, though I'm not sure why I should have been surprised. If you plan things out beforehand they tend to go smoothly for the most part. I even had time to clean up as I went along, which never happens with me. This made my after dinner experience more pleasant as well.
So if you're like me on a normal night and find yourself wondering why cooking sometimes seems as enjoyable as watching Real Chance At Love on VH1, try putting everything in place first and hopefully you'll find the experience a little more soothing and fun.
Yay for full feeds. Yes, getting everything gathered up beforehand is HUGELY helpful!
Posted by: Jasra | 10/23/2009 at 09:27 PM
You can paint stainless steel that is used near heat with special
paint (appliance epoxy) but it may require you removing the hood and
taking it to a paint shop. They have the correct spraying equipmentYou can paint stainless steel that is used near heat with special
paint (appliance epoxy) but it may require you removing the hood and
taking it to a paint shop. They have the correct spraying equipment
to achieve an even finish although I did find a forum (see below)
where some people painted their own range hoods.
to achieve an even finish although I did find a forum (see below)
where some people painted their own range hoods.
Posted by: generic cialis | 04/26/2010 at 01:37 PM