High-end Gastronomy porn
March 12, 2020 3:45 PM   Subscribe

Mise en place is a French culinary phrase which refers to the setup required before cooking. It is often used in professional kitchens to refer to organizing the ingredients that a cook will require for the menu items s/he expects to prepare during a shift.
It is also the name of a new video series from Eater (so far only 6 episodes) about some behind the scenes at 2 and 3 Michelin-starred restaurants. Start with the one about Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
posted by growabrain (11 comments total) 28 users marked this as a favorite
 
Thank you, thank you, thank you. This is why I read Metafilter.
posted by LURK at 4:33 PM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


Just watched the episode on Jean-Georges in New York. Love to see how quiet and focused the kitchen was during service.
posted by muddgirl at 5:07 PM on March 12, 2020 [2 favorites]


"Mise en place" or "getting shit ready" as I usually call it, is my #1 tip for cooking well. I pride myself in my cooking, and my friends and family are kind enough to thank me for the job I do. Plus, I love doing it.

But yes, getting everything ready before you turn on any kind of heat is the best possible thing you can do. Do not read along to a recipe when you're cooking and expect to complete each step as you read it.

Thanks for this post! I will be diving more into it later tonight.
posted by SoberHighland at 5:11 PM on March 12, 2020 [9 favorites]


"Mise en place" or "getting shit ready" as I usually call it

I enjoy calling it "mess in place" It's always good to have a dedicated place for my mess!
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:27 PM on March 12, 2020 [1 favorite]


I read about this a lot, and starting practicing it before I ever ended up working in kitchens, and learned to do it even better there. Now that I'm not doing that anymore, it's still second nature to me, and why my counter will be filled with a ton of little bowls before I turn on the gas. As far as little secrets of why food tastes good, getting everything ready so you don't have to stop mid cook is one of them. It lets you cook thing just right, instead of panicky mid-cook chopping that leads to overcooked food.
posted by Ghidorah at 9:51 PM on March 12, 2020 [4 favorites]


I'd rather watch that than any Gordon Ramsay... it's beautiful
posted by DreamerFi at 3:38 AM on March 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


"Mise en place" or "getting shit ready" as I usually call it, is my #1 tip for cooking well.

Seconded. Get everything chopped, measured, and set out before turning on the stove.

My personal policy: I can't have any wine until the mise en place is complete. Once I turn the stove on, it's boozin' time. (This also provides motivation to get mise en place done.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:21 AM on March 13, 2020 [7 favorites]


(Also: looking forward to watching these videos tonight; thanks!)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 5:21 AM on March 13, 2020 [1 favorite]


These are great! Now I want to see a video about the restaurant work nobody wants to do but gets done anyway.
posted by STFUDonnie at 6:28 AM on March 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


Thank you! What else to do now than watch food porn and cook all the stuff you hoarded?

BTW, for ages I hated the basic stuff, like prepping and cleaning. But now I just put on some good music or a podcast and get going, and I rather enjoy it. One big difference is knife skills, though I'm not that good. Another is accepting it as part of a good meal. I love a good meal.
It's a great pleasure to me that my kids have overcome the reluctance I experienced long before they even got a drivers license. Being able to cook from scratch and from anything is a very useful skill, in many ways. (My youngest gave her boyfriend a knife sharpener for his birthday. I thought that was hilarious. He was quite pleased).
posted by mumimor at 7:25 AM on March 13, 2020 [2 favorites]


And speaking of food and quarantine. Season 2 of Ugly Delicious is now on Netflix. If you’re unfamiliar it’s David Chang’s exploration of food and culture. It’s really a fantastic show.
posted by misterpatrick at 8:11 AM on March 13, 2020


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