Preperation is Everything!
Getting ready for a busy service……
I’ve just returned home after opening a restaurant in the company I work for and spent the last couple of days stressing the importance of good prep work or mis en place as it is known in the trade. Good prep makes the difference between a comfortable service and a bloody awful one and I am all for comfortable!
Every chef has their own idea or level of mep some do hardly any but they are few and far between whilst many do too much. I like to think we have a good balance. You simply cannot make everything to order but you should cook as much of your menu to order as possible.
Good prep makes sense in the domestic kitchen too, a stir fry for example has to be prepared prior to cooking because of the speed of the cooking process and any baked dessert receipe should have all of its ingredients already weighed out before hand.
This is the thorn in a head chef’s life, commis chef’s get the prep wrong, try and hide their mistakes which then become obvious and often irreperable during service an lead to frustration and the occasional swear word (or two)
The sort of mis en place done in my kitchens tends to be dressings, stocks, garnishes and so on. I have heard of high ranking restaurants pre cooking wild mushrooms in the morning and flash frying them in the evening. I really cannot entertain that. We have pots of brown chicken stock which are kept hot and then reduced to order and finished just before serving. A richer reduction known as a jus has to be made in advance but other sauces and particularly fish ones are made to order. In all honesty most menus are written geared around the levels of mis en place that the kitchen and its size can manage. If a staff member leaves then inevitably the amount and or style of the prep has to change.
So here’s a snap shot of the type of prep we do; small amounts of base dressings finished to order. We prefer doing smaller amounts more often to keep everything fresh, I’m sure you’re probably thinking that I would say that but it’s true. Hence the reason I am so tired and my blog posts have been few and far between. It’s not been the prep so much, more the bloody staff!!
Chef’s Prep Work
Miles,
These are the things us amateur cooks never think about. I’m sure your prep work is as important (or almost, anyway) as making the meal and putting on the final touches. Whatever makes up that container of beans shown above looks wonderful “as is.” What is the mixture and what is it the “prep” for. Are they marinating in some sort of flavored oil? Whatever it is, it looks divine.
I like these posts of yours, Miles. I enjoy a look “behind the scenes.” It’s fun to go back stage and see what goes on in the kitchen.
Melissa
August 26, 2009 @ 2:48 am
Chef,
you mentioned that it is a new opening so what’s the time lag before things actually start to run efficiently ?
Obviously time will tell which dishes go best I just wonder about balancing waste against being prepared and how long it takes to get a new place running well ?
Best
Rod
August 26, 2009 @ 8:34 am
Melissa,
The prep is indeed just as important, it is the quality of the prep that determines the quality of the end product. When a chef starts to run out of prep he/she is then playing catch up for the rest of the service and that’s when the problems start.
Miles
August 26, 2009 @ 9:16 am
Rod,
Many things will determine the timescale on this, not least the quality of the staff in place at that time. The hardest thing is getting the timings right, getting to a point where ALL of the chefs are into the flow of things and cook naturally because they understand the dishes. Get that sorted and you’re on a winner.
That can be a week, a month or, in some cases..never!!
Miles
August 26, 2009 @ 9:19 am
Miles,
Your take on mis en place (I learned a new phrase today) is very reassuring. I like most would have no idea of the hard work that goes into a service, nor the other issues that you face in your 45°C kitchens. All the best with the new place!
GDave
August 26, 2009 @ 7:45 pm
You could, of course, avoid all this messing about and get it all preprepared and boil it in a bag like Gordon Ramsay does (sorry did it’s probably closed down now)
A van delivers to the back door and when a customer orders you chuck the appropriate bag into boiling water
Voila !
I could be a Michelin starred chef
Rod
August 26, 2009 @ 8:01 pm
GDave
Thanks! It’s a tough old life
Miles
August 27, 2009 @ 8:01 am
Rod,
Well said! Many, many restaurants have already gone down that particular road. Nobody wants to pay chefs to do the fresh prep these days. A sign of the times I’m afraid.
Miles
August 27, 2009 @ 8:02 am
Miles,
For years now I’ve admired the tv chefs ability to point to a tray of little glass dishes containing the ingredients they are about to casually throw into the pan…. so organized, so swift…. so why don’t I do that then? Well I fully intend to when my kitchen arrives…. it’s a sort of late, new years resolution!
When I open my first restaurant, all the chefs will be wearing black satin Nigella dressing gowns, each one with his or her own Kitchen Aid mixer… that seems to be key to the whole prep thing
The ability to glide is important too…. there’ll be no stumbling about in my kitchen. ‘What about soggy sleeves?’ I hear you cry, fear not a jeweled peg will be provided for everyone in the veg prep shed…. while we’re on the subject of vegetable preparation may I admit that I find this a deeply unpleasant job and all those who spend hours doing it have my full admiration.
In short, I agree entirely, it’s all about good prep and timing.
Cid
August 27, 2009 @ 10:50 am
Spoken like a true Boy Scout.
August 27, 2009 @ 5:47 pm
Cid,
Knew you’d get there in the end! Those TV chefs have BBC assistants doing it all for them, it’s a bloody con!
Miles
August 27, 2009 @ 10:32 pm
Annie,
Dib dib dib, dob, dob, dob
Miles
August 27, 2009 @ 10:33 pm