The set up is overrated. There are often faster ways to cook.

Mise en place is a French expression that has been commonly translated into English to essentially mean “everything in its place.” (Plug it into Google Translate and you get “set up.”) In cooking, this basically means that all of your ingredients need to be gathered and prepared in advance, up to the point where you start using them.

The concept of mise en place as part of the broader orthodoxy of cooking became common practice thanks in large part to Auguste Escoffier, the late 19th and early 20th century soldier turned chef. Escoffier helped lay the foundation for much of how professional kitchens are organized, cooking is regulated and recipes are written. The underlying reason for mise en place is that by organizing and preparing everything before you start cooking, the overall process will be faster, more efficient and more precise.

In a restaurant, there is no doubt that mise en place is often the solution to producing as much food as possible quickly, successfully and with as little waste as possible. But in domestic kitchens? Not always.

I’m going to say it: down with the tyranny of implementation.

I understand. It can be difficult to overturn the preconceptions ingrained in generations of home cooks. And just as anything said with an English accent (for some of us) lends immediate gravitas to even the most mundane statement, we have been trained to believe that any French culinary term is more authoritative. This is the default language for cooking terminology, including cut style names.
and cooking techniques (sauté, flambé, julienne, à la mode, etc.), despite the fact that people around the world cook every day, often doing the same things under other names.

What I really mean is that just because a culinary term is French doesn’t necessarily mean it’s better. Mise en place doesn’t have to be the reflexive answer when we talk about how and why to prepare the kitchen. This won’t always save you time or effort.

In an episode of Milk Street Radio with Christopher Kimball, cookbook author and television host Sara Moulton listed mise en place as “nonsense” compared to other traditional French techniques, including clarifying broth for parfait or the use of black pepper for some dishes and white for others. Moulton admitted that his position was probably “heretical”, but really went for it, concluding: “to hell with the set-up.” It’s useless.”

Yes, there are certain cases where the implementation makes the most sense. I’m a firm believer in grabbing all of your ingredients first so you don’t waste time rummaging through your fridge or pantry, but it’s not necessary to have everything cut or measured before you begin.

Cookbook author Mark Bittman has long talked about the “myth of mise en place” and why it’s not always the quickest. “The restaurant model that has become so popular for mise en place sort of assumes that you have one or two assistants to do the mise en place, and then you stand at the stove and put it all together, which which is of course ideal,” Bittman said in an episode of his Food with Mark Bittman podcast on the subject.

“Why we call it the mise en place myth is because, just because you have everything in its place, it might take you half an hour to do all that prep work and put it in places. small bowls or other on five different cuts. boards or however you end up doing it,” added Kerri Conan, Bittman’s collaborator on “How to Cook Everything Fast” and other books. “And you end up dirtying even more dishes, and then you stand there for 10 minutes while something simmers.”

Any dish that requires ingredients to be added all at once or in quick succession is an obvious mise en place scenario. Stir-fries immediately come to mind. Time, or a hot pan or wok, waits for no man, so it’s essential to chop all your ingredients and assemble the aromatics. Anything that needs to be fried in a pan of hot oil needs to be prepped and ready too, so the oil doesn’t overheat and you get even browning on the same schedule for all pieces (also, breaded foods often benefit from rest (at least a few minutes to let the coating set).

But I encourage you to think of other situations where doing all the prep first won’t save you time in the long run. This is where reading a recipe is vitally important. Some recipes will suggest points at which steps or preparation can overlap (“meanwhile”, “while xyz cooks”, etc.), including some of our older Dinner in Minutes recipes, but especially since Many still use the list of ingredients to describe how a food is prepared, this is not often the case. Consider recipes, including soups, stews and braises, that start with aromatics sautéed in a pot or pan. If my onions need to cook for 5 or 6 minutes to start, plus the time it takes for the pan and oil to heat up first, that usually gives me at least 10 minutes to chop the food added later. (And as Conan and Bittman note, you can always lower the heat or remove a pan from the heat if you need to catch up). Recipes that call for ingredients to be marinated or soaked, like the Takeout Hot and Sour Soup pictured above, are also great for accomplishing prep tasks while you wait.

Serving or dipping sauces can also be made later in the process. Some ingredients are best prepared at the last minute for optimal appearance and flavor, whether it’s sliced ​​avocado or chopped herbs.

In his conversation with Moulton, Kimball argued that preparing everything in advance “relieves you of the mind of ‘oh, I forgot to slice the garlic’ or ‘I didn’t measure the cinnamon.’ . Everything is finished and you can now just enjoy and concentrate on cooking. He observed that Moulton’s ability to incorporate the preparation into a recipe was largely due to his professional and restaurant experience. Moulton agreed that mise en place is especially important for new cooks, but that even “moderately good” cooks can begin to strive to leave it behind.

Mastering layered preparation comes with practice and familiarity, both in terms of skills and specific recipes, and the more you get used to it, the less need for setup.

Baking is another scenario where it’s not worth measuring all the ingredients at first. How many different bowls do you need, filled separately with your sugar, flour, chocolate chips, etc.? ? The extra time required to wash the equipment alone is quite discouraging to me. Using a scale so you can measure by weight and tare (reset the scale to zero) as you add each ingredient is a huge time saver, not to mention greater accuracy. I have become so lazy – smart? – when it comes to baking, if, for example, I add flour after creaming the butter and sugar, I will remove the bowl of my stand mixer to weigh the dry ingredients directly into the bowl rather than portion separately. This works best if everything is added at once rather than in stages.

As with almost everything else in life, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to cooking. Sometimes implementation is the solution. Sometimes this is not the case. Choose what works best for your recipe, as well as your own comfort level. If preparing everything in advance reduces your overall kitchen anxiety and makes cooking less stressful, do it. But also don’t let anyone fool you into thinking that mise en place is the only strategy for serious cooks.