French culinary terms always seem snooty and unapproachable to me. Mis-en-place is no different, but it’s the concept behind the term that’s important. Translating into “everything in it’s place” the term has everyday baking signifigance. Simply stated, in American English, “get all your stuff together before the flour starts flying.” Soften the butter, get the eggs to room temperature, preheat the oven, measure the flour, leavening, salt, sugar and wet ingredients. Also have a spatula, towel and greased and floured pan. When all of that is ready, you know you’ve got all your ingredients in order. You’re not going to find yourself an egg short in the middle of making cake batter. It’s a helpful trick. Thank you fancy French culinary people!
January 21st, 2008 at 10:33 am
about misen place: seems like its a multifunctional term. i was once tought that it’s about preparing your station (assuming one works in a kitchen with more than one person) for service, eg, cooking masehd potatoes, blanching your veggies, preparing the meat, freezing your icecream..
never heard of it in terms of a single dish/recipe, but one never stops to learn. on the other hand i couldn’t imagine that someone would try to cook something without having all the ingredients ready..
greetings,
david
ps
compliments on your pictures, i like that style