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Playing
with
Fire:
Learning
to
Cook
at
CNC
Part
2:
Mis-en-place
t
by
Andrew
Beuzer
Die
s.
jT
-f
n
the
culinary
world,
there
is
a
concept
called
mis-en-place.
Mis-en-place
means
to
"put
in
place".
In
simplest
terms,
it
is
the
gathering
and
preparation
of
all
the
ingredients
and
equipment
needed
before
you
begin
cooking.
In
the
reality
of
a
professional
kitchen,
mis-en-place
is
so
much
more.
I
first
started
reading
about
mis-en-place
when
I
was
deciding
whether
I
wanted
to
become
part
of
this
strange
world
called
Culinary
Arts.
People
wrote
about
the
importance
of
preparing
ahead.
I
read
about
how
the
idea
of
mis-en-place
permeates
every
part
of
the
professional
kitchen,
and
about
how
crucial
it
is
to
practice
good
mis-en-place
if
one
is
to
survive
in
our
profession.
-
What
I
did
not
truly
.understand
until
I
worked
in
a
t
F
MaK.TE'
t
tfiw
VdS
jpag
'vKS
irr
oirirriM
I
JLrT
'I
y
FffrhTT
raYB
kitchen
myself,
is
how
mis-en-place
changes
the
way
you
think,
the
way
you
organize
your
work,
and
the
very
way
you
function.
The
first
thing
you
must
understand
is
that
a
professional
kitcheii
operates
by
constantly
overcoming
an
endless
series
of
emergencies.
As
one
of
our
instructors
pointed
out
to
us
on
our
first
day,
every
kitchen
has
at
least
3
emergencies
every
day
-
breakfast,
lunch,
and
dinner.
In
addition,
we
may
have
to
deal
with
such
things
as
vanishing
ingredients,
knife
injuries,
missed
deliveries,
as
well
as
difficult
customers,
natural
disasters,
the
end
of
the
world...
the
list
is
endless.
To
successfully
operate
in
the
face
of
such
emergencies,
you
need
good
mis-en-place.
That
starts
with
doing
as
much
work,
as
far
ahead
of
time
as
possible.
If
you
have
time
to
chop
up
Wednesday's
vegetables
on
Tuesday
JB1
afternoon,
you
do
it.
On
Wednesday,
when
you
have
managed
to
slice
off
your
thumb
on
the
meat
saw,
at
least
you
know
that
once
you
get
the
bleeding
under
control,
the
vegetables
you
need
for
your
stew
are
ready
and
waiting
for
you
to
begin
cooking.
The
moral
is,
if
you
are
not
busy
dealing
with
a
current
emergency,
you
should
be
busy
preparing
for
a
future
emergency.
And
this
simple
idea
soon
starts
to
permeate
all
facets
of
your
work.
It
changes
the
way
your
brain
is
wired.
Like
a
chess
player,
you
start
to
plan
ten
moves
ahead.
My
wife
would
say
this
is
no
great
revelation,
as
she
works
this
way
all
the
time.
But
free
spirits
like
me
need
a
bit
of
coaxing.
Actually,
this
free
spirit
has
to
be
dragged
kicking
and
screaming.
I've
always
been
more
of
the
make-it-up-as-you-go
type
of
guy.
It's
worked
out
pretty
well
J-Uy
ihere
tre
you
a
creatl
you
need
extra
c
to
your
resume
page
free
forum
is
exciting
and
res
to
become
te
n
alters.
Almost
all
positions
are
aVailab
Look
for
informative
posters
around
the
the
editorial
Way
over
on
the
Left
page
fc
information.
Though
computer
saVy
is
a
g,
experience
is
necessary.
Contact
cncsncncbc.ca
fyou
are
inters
so
far.
But
in
a
kitchen,
that
kind
of
attitude
usually
spells
disaster.
This
particular
revelation
has
come
about
through
careful
observation.
As
I
cook
more
and
more,
I
am
realizing
that
when
I
prepare
ahead,
things
don't
usually
screw
up.
When
I'm
unprepared,
things
seem
to
spontaneously
degenerate
into
complete
chaos
before
my
eyes.
I
am
starting
to
understand
that,
in
order
to
become
a
successful
cook,
I
also
need
to
start
planning
ahead
-
what
is
sometimes
known
as
mental
mis-en-place.
Even
if
I
don't
do
the
physical
preparation,
just
by
planning
ahead,
I
can
usually
work
through
almost
any
unexpected
emergency.
Ovens
not
working?
No
worries.
Can't
locate
the
green
onions?
We
can
find
some.
Alligators
ate
the
soup
cook?
Again?
Alligator
soup
for
lunch.
..again.
On
the
other
hand,
when
I'm
not
prepared,
frying
an
egg
seems
to
take
on
the
complexity
of
open-heart
surgery..
.and
the
egg
usually
ends
up
looking
like
the
victim
of
a
botched
operation.
So
now
I've
started
to
change.
I
wake
up
every
morning
with
a
list
of
things
in
my
head.
When
I
get
to
the
kitchen,
I
start
working
from
my
list.
By
the
time
I
go
home,
I'm
making
a
mental
list
for
the
next
day.
When
I
go
to
bed,
the
last
thing
in
my
head
is
my
list.
When
I
have
no
list
in
my
head,
I
know
it's
going
to
be
a
bad
day.
Obsessive?
Maybe.
But
I
now
realize
that
good
cooks,
like
good
food,
are
not
only
the
product
of
hard
work
and
natural
talent.
They
are
also
the
product
of
a
little
bit
of
obsession,
a
series
of
emergencies
averted,
and
careful
planning
and
preparation.
They
are
the
product
of
good
mis-en-place.
mmwm
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