Mise En Place

Mise en Place

To be successful in the food-service industry, cooks need more than the ability to prepare delicious, attractive, and nutritious foods. They also must have a talent for organization and efficiency. In every kitchen, a great many tasks must be completed over a given time and by a limited number of workers. No matter when these tasks are done, they all must come together at one crucial point: service time. Only if advance preparation is done thoroughly and systematically can service go smoothly.

Good chefs take pride in the thoroughness and quality of their advance preparation, or mise en place (meez-on-plahss). This French term, meaning “everything put in place,” has become almost a professional password in North American kitchens because food-service professionals understand its importance to the success of the establishment.

This chapter deals with the basic concepts of mise en place as well as specific operations that are normally part of the mise en place. 

Planning and Organizing Production

Even on the simplest level, pre-preparation is necessary. If you prepare only one short recipe, you must first:

a. Assemble your tools.
b. Assemble your ingredients.
c. Wash, trim, cut, prepare, and measure your raw materials. Prepare your equipment (preheat oven, line baking sheets, etc.).

Only then can you begin the actual preparation.  When many items are to be prepared in a commercial kitchen, the situation is much more complex. Dealing with this complexity is the basis of kitchen organization.

The Problem

Every food-service operation faces a basic conflict between two unavoidable facts:

1. There is far too much work to do in a kitchen to leave until the last minute, so some work must be done ahead.
   
2. Mostfoodsareattheirbestqualityimmediatelyafterpreparation,andtheydeteriorate as they are held.
   

The Solution

To address this conflict, the chef must plan pre-preparation carefully. Planning generally follows these steps:

1. Break down each menu item into its stages of production.
   Turn to any recipe in this book. Note the procedures are divided into a sequence of steps that must be done in a certain order to make a finished product.
   
   
2. Determine which stages may be done in advance.
   
   • The first step of every recipe, written or not, is always part of advance preparation: assembling and preparing the ingredients. This includes cleaning and cutting pro- duce, cutting and trimming meats, and preparing breadings and batters for frying.
     
   • Succeeding steps of a recipe may be done in advance if the foods can then be held without loss of quality.
     
   • Final cooking should be done as close as possible to service for maximum freshness.
     Frequently, separate parts of a recipe, such as a sauce or a stuffing, are prepared in advance, and the dish is assembled at the last minute.
     In general, items cooked by dry-heat methods, such as broiled steaks, sautéed fish, and French-fried potatoes, do not hold well. Large roasts are an important excep- tion to this rule. Items cooked by moist heat, such as braised beef, soups, and stews, are usually better suited to reheating or holding in a steam table. Delicate items should always be freshly cooked.
     
     
3. Determine the best way to hold each item at its final stage of pre-preparation. Holding temperature is the temperature at which a product is kept for service or for storage. Holding temperatures for all potentially hazardous foods must be outside the Food Danger Zone.
   

•  Sauces and soups are frequently kept hot, above 135°F (57°C), for service in steam tables or   other holding equipment. Foods such as vegetables, however, should be kept hot for short periods only because they quickly become overcooked. 

• Refrigerator temperatures, below 41°F (5°C), are best for preserving the quality of most foods, especially perishable meats, fish, and vegetables, before final cooking or reheating.

4. Determine how long it takes to prepare each stage of each recipe. Plan a production schedule beginning with the preparations that take the longest.  Many operations can be carried on at once because they don’t all require your complete attention the full time. It may take 6 to 8 hours to make a stock, but you don’t have to stand and watch it all that time.
   
   
5. Examine recipes to see if they might be revised for better efficiency and quality as served.
   For example:
   
   • Instead of preparing a full batch of green peas and holding them for service in the steam table, you might blanch and chill them, then heat portions to order in a sauté pan, steamer, or microwave oven.
     
     
   • Instead of holding a large batch of veal scaloppine in mushroom sauce in the steam table, you might prepare and hold the sauce, sauté the veal to order, combine the meat with a portion of the sauce, and serve fresh from the pan.
     
     Caution: Unless you are in charge of the kitchen, do not change a recipe without authorization from your supervisor.
     
     
     
     0. The Goal
        The goal of pre-preparation is to do as much work in advance as possible without loss of quality. Then, at service time, all energy can be used for finishing each item immediately before serving, with the utmost attention to quality and freshness. Many preparation techniques in common use are designed for the convenience of the cooks at the expense of quality. Remember, quality should always take highest priority. 
        
        Source : Professional Cooking 7th Edition by Wiley (Chapter 7)