Mise en place

“Mise en place” is a cooking term defined at the beginning of every Culinary Institute boot camp I’ve attended and occasionally thrown out during cooking shows on TV. Literally, it translates from French to English as “setting up.” I’ve heard others describe it as “everything in its place,” which is how I usually think of it. According to Chef Remolina, as well as several other chefs at the CIA, it refers to having all of your ingredients at the ready, including chopped and measured as appropriate. Chef also stressed that this includes being mentally prepared—having reviewed the recipes and understanding what needs to happen when before you actually dive into preparation. In practice, the recipe doesn’t necessarily turn out as planned every time, but if you’re prepared you’re better able to adapt and make things work in the end.



After I attended my first boot camp at the CIA with a good friend, she gave me a lovely silver bracelet with “mise en place” engraved on it. It’s much more than a reminder for my love of food and the wonderful experience I had at that first boot camp. Instead, it has become a bit of a life mantra for me. People who know me well will tell you that I’m not the most organized person on the planet. I can even hear them chuckling as they read that last sentence, knowing it’s the understatement of the year. But it’s certainly aspirational for me, a reminder to think things through, prepare myself physically and mentally for what’s ahead of me.



A professional kitchen is a place of organized chaos, with a tilt toward the “chaos” part of that phrase when it’s boot campers in the kitchen. So is my life. Yours too? Yeah, I hoped I wasn’t the only one. It helps to have the occasional reminder to put things in their place, think things through, and be prepared as you can for whatever happens. I’m not there yet, but I keep looking at my wrist to remind myself to step back, think it through, and keep trying.