Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. C HAPTER 7 MISE EN PLACE

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. M ISE E N P LACE Cooks must have a talent for organization and efficiency. Many tasks must be completed over a given time and by a limited number of workers. All must come together at one crucial point: service time. K EY P OINTS

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. M ISE E N P LACE Chefs take pride in the thoroughness and quality of their advance preparation, or mise en place. Mise en place : French term, meaning “everything put in place.” Key Points (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION Pre-preparation is necessary! You must: –Assemble your tools. –Assemble your ingredients. –Wash, trim, cut, prepare, and measure your raw materials. –Prepare your equipment. P RE -P REPARATION

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION The Chef must plan pre-preparation carefully: –Break down each menu item into its stages of production. –Determine which stages may be done in advance. –Determine the best way to hold each item at its final stage of pre- preparation. –Determine how long it takes to prepare each stage of each recipe. –Plan a production schedule beginning with the preparations that take the longest. –Examine recipes to see if they might be revised for better efficiency and quality as served. T HE S OLUTION

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Holding temperature: The temperature at which a product is kept for service or for storage. Holding temperatures for all potentially hazardous foods must be outside the Food Danger Zone. –Food Danger Zone: 41ºF (5ºC) to 135ºF (57ºC) P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION The Solution (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. The goal of pre-preparation is to do as much work in advance as possible without loss of quality. Quality should always take highest priority. P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION T HE G OAL

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION Set Meal Service All customers eat at one time. Often called quantity cooking because large batches are prepared in advance. Examples: school cafeterias, banquets, employee dining rooms A DAPTING P REPARATION TO S TYLE OF S ERVICE

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Extended Meal Service Customers eat at different times. Often called à la carte cooking; customers usually select items from a written menu (carte in French). Individual items are cooked to order rather than cooked ahead. Examples: restaurants, short-order counters P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION ADAPTING PREPARATION TO STYLE OF SERVICE (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. A large part of a cook’s workday is spent doing mise en place. A large part of learning how to cook is learning how to do mise en place. P LANNING AND O RGANIZING P RODUCTION M ISE EN P LACE : T HE R EQUIRED T ASKS

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Sharpening Stone Follow these guidelines: –Hold the blade at a constant 20-degree angle to the stone. –Make light, even strokes, the same number on each side of the blade. K EEPING A S HARP E DGE

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Sharpening Stone (cont’d) Sharpen in one direction only to get a regular, uniform edge. Do not oversharpen. Finish with a few strokes on the steel (see next slide), and then wipe the blade clean. KEEPING A SHARP EDGE (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Steel Follow these guidelines: Hold the blade at a constant 20-degree angle to the steel, just as when using the stone. –A smaller angle will be ineffective. A larger one will dull the edge. Make light strokes; do not grind the knife against the steel. KEEPING A SHARP EDGE (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Steel (cont’d) Make even, regular strokes. Alternate each stroke, first on one side of the blade, then on the other. Use no more than five or six strokes on each side of the blade; too much steeling can actually dull the blade. Use the steel often; then, you will rarely have to sharpen the knife on the stone. KEEPING A SHARP EDGE (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Grip A proper grip –Gives you maximum control over the knife. –Increases your cutting accuracy and speed. –Prevents slipping. –Lessens the chance of an accident. HANDLING THE KNIFE

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Grip (cont’d) The type of grip you use depends, in part, on the job you are doing and the size of the knife. Many Chefs fell that grasping the blade with the thumb and forefinger gives the greatest control. HANDLING THE KNIFE (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE The Guiding Hand Proper positioning of the hand achieves three goals: –Hold the item being cut. –Guide the knife. –Protect the hand from cuts. HANDLING THE KNIFE (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE Cutting food products into uniform shapes and sizes is important for two reasons: 1. It ensures even cooking. 2. It enhances the appearance of the product. B ASIC C UTS AND S HAPES

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE Chop: to cut into irregularly shaped pieces Concasser : to chop coarsely Mince: to chop into very fine pieces Emincer : to cut into very thin slices (does not mean “to mince”) Shred: to cut into thin strips Basic Cuts and Shapes (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE Slicing –When food items are cut into round slices as shown, the cut is called rondelle. CUTTING TECHNIQUES

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE BâtonnetDice Cutting Techniques (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE Tourné Julienne Cutting Techniques (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE PaysanneLozenges Cutting Techniques (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. U SING THE K NIFE FermiéreOblique Cutting Techniques (cont’d)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P RELIMINARY C OOKING AND F LAVORING Advance preparation often requires precooking and flavoring of ingredients to make them ready for use in the finished recipe. –Partial cooking may be done by any moist-heat or dry-heat method. –The term blanching may mean any of these methods: simmering or boiling (parboiling) steaming deep-frying (especially for potatoes) B LANCHING AND P ARCOOKING

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. There are four main reasons for blanching or par- cooking: 1. To increase holding quality 2. To save time 3. To remove undesirable flavors 4. To enable the product to be processed further P RELIMINARY C OOKING AND F LAVORING BLANCHING AND PARCOOKING (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P RELIMINARY C OOKING AND F LAVORING Marinate: to soak a food product in a seasoned liquid in order to: –Flavor the product –Tenderize the product M ARINATING

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P RELIMINARY C OOKING AND F LAVORING Marinades have three categories of ingredients: 1. Oil 2. Acid from vinegar, lemon juice, wine 3. Flavorings—spices, herbs, vegetables MARINATING (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. Kinds of marinade: –Cooked –Raw –Instant –Dry P RELIMINARY C OOKING AND F LAVORING MARINATING (CONT’D)

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P RELIMINARY C OOKING AND F LAVORING Brines are similar to marinades. The primary use of brines is in curing, but it is also used for tenderizing. Brines are rarely used for red meats. During brining salt interacts with proteins, because of this, the capacity of the meat to hold moisture is increased. BRINING

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P REPARATION FOR F RYING Coating a product with bread crumbs or other crumbs or meal before deep frying, pan-frying, or sautéing B READING

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. P REPARATION FOR F RYING The Three Stages of the Standard Breading Procedure 1. Flour 2. Egg wash 3. Crumbs BREADING (CONT’D) 32

Copyright © 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. All rights reserved. H ANDLING C ONVENIENCE F OODS Convenience food: Any product that has been partially or completely prepared or processed by a manufacturer. Convenience products are not a substitute for culinary knowledge and skill. It takes as much understanding of basic cooking principles to handle convenience products as it does fresh, raw ingredients. K EY P OINTS