Finally, a justification for my laziness...

The following is an excerpt from an interview with Sara Moulton:

Q: How would you say that your new cookbook differs from so many other quick-cooking ones out there in stores?

A: I’ve always had one job or three, but I’ve also always had dinner at home at least three times a week with my family. I tried to think of my own tricks. When I worked in restaurants, you have to have your mise en place, all your little bowls of ingredients all prepped ahead of time, because you are making one dish at a time. But at home, I was chopping an onion while heating the pan. Or I was chopping garlic while that onion was cooking. In this book, I dispense with mise en place except for Asian recipes. I take advantage of simmering or searing time to tackle the next step. And if you need to, you can just pull the pan off the stove while you chop the next thing you need. Why do it all ahead of time? It’s a waste of time.

I've always felt guilty for not having good mise en place. And, admittedly, it has bitten me on the ass a few times as I've forgotten to add an ingredient or gotten the onions a tad too dark while chopping up some other ingredient. But, for the most part, I cook and bake as I go, and it usually works out well. I hate the thought of dirtying up many bowls and taking up a lot of time when, as Sara says, you can often do a task while waiting on another part of the project to finish.

Now if anyone questions my lack of mise en place I can say: If it's good enough for Sara Moulton, it's good enough for me.

Comments

[BeckyH]

Actually, on a hot line you need mise en place so you can be making one serving of several different dishes at a time. At the pastry station I might have 8 different menu items, all with many parts, plus anything that goes on any other plate that I produce. If I had to assemble all of that for each ticket every meal would take days.
When I'm in production mode the idea of using overlaps in recipes to make things happen is vital. It's the only way to get everything ready before service. I do it at home too-Otherwise, how does everything get to the table at the same time at the right temp? Instead, your mise en place could be the stock you have in the freezer, the leftover pork going into the stir-fry, etc.

[Darcie]

Oh, I totally agree that in a restaurant or production setting you need mise en place - there is no other way.

But in a home kitchen, I can chop up an onion while my oil or butter heats, then chop up an herb or potato or whatever while the onion sweats, etc.

I generally don't have issues with everything getting done at the same time - I can pretty well guesstimate which things will take the longest. And some things, like rice in a rice cooker, can hold while everything else is finishing up.

If I'm doing a big production dinner party, I do get a little more organized. But for an evening meal, there's no way I'm going to chop everything in advance and dirty up a half-dozen bowls needlessly. Of course, weekday dinners are usually not elaborate in my house.

[Warner aka ntsc]

It depends on what I'm doing. A simple meal, there probably is no mise. 20 pounds of sausage in four different types, there is a mise. And much wok cooking there is no other way.