Mise en place

Oct 4, 2019

According to Merriam Webster: a culinary process in which ingredients are prepared and organized (as in a restaurant kitchen) before cooking.

As many of you know I was a professional chef for about a decade before I became a coach and an organizer. I learned many of the foundational principles of organizing while I was a chef. Actually, that learning process began while I was at the Culinary Institute of America (CIA.) They are serious about being organized and prepared. Mise en place is actually the school motto. For me it was a survival strategy. I need to be organized to be successful. But that doesn't just apply to the kitchen, but to my whole life. Here are some organizational principles that I used in the kitchen that in one way or another translate.

Keep the things you use most closest.
If you can achieve the same end goal with fewer steps, do that!
Get rid of stuff you don't use/need.
Clean up after yourself constantly so there isn't big project clean up at the end.
Be 100% prepared with everything you need before starting a larger project. It will save you time and completion will be more likely.

That's off the top of my head. I'll post more if I think of them. Next week I'm going to discuss "mental mise en place."

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