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Culinary Arts & Cooking vocabulary · Prep & Kitchen Workflow

Mise en place

Meaning in culinary arts & cooking, with examples

/ˌmiːz ɒn ˈplɑːs/nounCore term

In culinary arts & cooking, mise en place means: The preparation and organisation of all ingredients and tools at a station before cooking or service begins. From French, meaning "putting in place".

In Turkish: mizanplas, ön hazırlık

How it is used

One of the first expressions every cook learns. You do or set up your mise en place before service; chefs check it and complain when it is not ready. Often shortened to mise (/miːz/): "Is your mise done?"

Example sentences

  1. Get your mise en place ready by five; doors open at six.

  2. Good mise en place is the reason she never gets lost during a busy service.

Common collocations

  • do your mise en place
  • set up your mise en place
  • check the mise en place
  • mise en place list
  • prepShort for preparation: the work of getting food ready before cooking or service, such as washing, peeling, cutting, portioning and making sauces. Also used as a verb.
  • stationAn area of the kitchen where one cook or a small team prepares one type of food, such as the grill, fry, sauce or garnish station.
  • serviceThe period when a restaurant is open and the kitchen is cooking and sending out orders, such as lunch service or dinner service.
  • par levelThe amount of an ingredient or prepared item that should be on hand for a shift or until the next delivery. Also called par stock or just par.

More terms: Prep & Kitchen Workflow

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