Mise en Place: The Secret Ingredient Behind Every Great Cook
Everything is ready before the flame is lit.
Letter from the Kitchen
Last week, I closed with a question: Do you set up your mise en place before you cook, or figure it out as you go?
The answers came in all directions — which tells me this is a worthy discussion.
Mise en place. The French phrase translates roughly to “putting in place.” To me, it means being ready before you begin. Gathering ingredients. Measuring what needs measuring. Chopping what needs chopping. Tools within reach before the first flame goes on. It’s the surefire way to know you have everything to complete the recipe at hand.
Professional kitchens have run on this system for more than a century. Not as a preference — as survival. The technique traces back to Escoffier's brigade kitchen. Before service, every station was stocked and organized. Vegetables prepped. Sauces made. Garnishes portioned. Equipment staged. Once customers arrived, there was no time to hunt for a whisk or dice an onion. Service was executed. Preparation happened beforehand.
My cooking classes work the same way. Before students arrive, ingredients are measured, recipes are printed, and workstations are set. If I’m teaching pasta, every rolling pin, cutter, bowl, and sheet pan is exactly where it needs to be. That preparation is what lets me focus on teaching — not on scrambling.
Here’s what I find interesting: mise en place isn’t really about cooking. It’s about creating order before action. I use the same approach before a podcast recording, a photo shoot, or a newsletter. Notes organized. Equipment ready. Questions prepared. The work flows because the obstacles are already gone.
Last Week, You Answered
The Mise en Place Question
Several of you wrote in saying that my Basics of Cooking class changed how you work in the kitchen. A few others wrote to ask: What is mise en place, exactly?
Both responses make sense. It’s a technique that looks obvious once you know it — and completely invisible until someone shows you.
If you’re in the second camp, this issue is for you. And if asparagus or rhubarb is what’s pulling you into the kitchen right now, here’s where to start:
Rhubarb and Asparagus Pasta with Walnuts →
Roasted Strawberry Rhubarb Paletas →
Join Me at the Table
Registration Closes Tonight at 5 PM CT
Father’s Day Masterclass: Tortillas & the Taco Bar
If you’re still working out Father’s Day, here’s one that ends with everyone at the counter eating tacos they pressed themselves.
Sunday, June 21. Hands-on, start to finish.
It starts with the corn — four colors, blue, yellow, red, white — nixtamalized and pressed into fresh tortillas. Each one cooks a little differently, and you taste as you go. Then the bar:
Fish tacos with roasted tomatillo salsa
Slow pork with mango salsa
Roasted cauliflower with romesco
Guacamole, ground by hand in the molcajete
Three days out. If it’s on your list, tonight is the moment.
View Dates & Book Your Stool →
This class is limited to 8 people.
The Podcast Hook
Awareness, Intuition, Science, Hard Work
Russ Willenbring doesn’t farm the way most people do. What comes through in Episode 7 is the particular mix it takes to do this work well — awareness, intuition, science, and hard work, all at once. His commitment to organic farming has been a long road of learning and adapting. Worth your Friday commute.
Friday, June 26 · 7:30 AM — Ep 8 · Maddie Jensen: Inside Eversharp: Knives, Craftsmanship, and Community
New episodes every other Friday.
What’s Happening in the Kitchen
Most of my attention this week went to the Father’s Day Masterclass. I ran several test rounds — the original plan was to edit the menu down, but I couldn’t see letting go of any of the recipes, so I didn’t.
I also tested a new nixtamalized masa that was guaranteed to puff more easily. It did puff. But it lacked the deep flavor of the masas I’d already settled on. That’s an easy edit.
In between, I’ve been posting clips from the podcast. If you haven’t found those yet, they’re on Instagram, YouTube, and Facebook.
The Skill: The New Basics
Clean as You Go
The Quick Win
The number one reason people tell me they don’t enjoy cooking is the mess waiting for them when they’re done. Try this instead: take short breaks during natural pauses — while something simmers, while the oven preheats — to wash a bowl, wipe down the cutting board, put away what you’re done with. It keeps the workspace clear. It also gives your mind a small reset between tasks.
The Most Common Mistake
Saving the cleanup for the end, on the theory that it’s more efficient. It isn’t. No one cooks well in a messy environment. The clutter takes more time than cleaning would.
One Tool Worth Having
A set of Pyrex Clear Glass Bowls in varied sizes. Measure everything into them before you start cooking. You can see at a glance what’s prepped and what isn’t — no lifting lids, no guessing. They’re what make mise en place a real system rather than an idea.
Recipe Spotlight
Fresh Spring Pea Soup
The Soul
People think of pea soup as heavy — ham hocks, long simmer, winter. This one is none of that. Light, bright, and genuinely surprising. Lettuce in soup sounds like a mistake. It isn’t. It lifts the flavor, deepens the color, and adds a texture you don’t expect from a bowl this simple.
The Bridge
Fresh or frozen peas both work here. If fresh peas aren’t available — or you want dinner on the table faster — frozen peas go straight in from the bag. Good quality frozen peas are a secret weapon.
The Mediterranean Edit
This Week I’m Loving…
The tools that make the prep phase worth doing.
Tool
Nordic Ware Quarter and Half Sheet Pans
I have ten quarter-size pans and more half-sheets than I can count. They go under everything — roasting, resting, catching drips. I wrap them in foil before any high-heat roasting, which is why they still look the way they do. There is something satisfying about a completely clean sheet pan. The most important use, however, is holding my “mise en place” preparations. Each dish gets its own sheet pan.
Tool
Pyrex Clear Glass Bowls
I started using these on camera — having ingredients measured and ready made the videos cleaner and easier to follow. Then they became part of how I actually cook every day. You can see everything at a glance. They come individually by size or in sets. They stack neatly. They hold up.
Cookbook Chronicles
Last weekend’s pizza class. I always make extra dough. Pizza the next day.
Before You Go
Are your knives sharp? And I mean actually sharp.
Reply or drop it in the comments. I read every one.
Next week, Maddie Jensen from Eversharp joins me for Episode 8 — knives, craftsmanship, and what it actually means to maintain a blade. Good timing to take an honest look at what’s in your knife block.
Until next Thursday — keep a good olive oil on the counter and don’t be afraid to use it.
— Chef Laura