Restaurant DNA
Mise en place
Everything measured, prepared and in reach before the heat goes on, so cooking becomes assembly rather than a scramble.
What professional kitchens do
Mise en place (French for 'putting in place') means every cook sets up their station before service: vegetables cut, spices measured, sauces made and portioned, garnishes ready, tools and clean cloths laid out. During service a dish is then a short sequence of moves, not a recipe read from scratch.
- Ingredients prepped into labelled containers, arranged in the order they are used
- Tools placed where the hand expects them (tongs, spoons, ladles, towels)
- A prep list for the day, checked off as items are done
- Clean as you go: a clear board and bench between tasks
Why it works
Fast cooking leaves no time to chop or hunt for a spice: in a tadka or stir-fry, the gap while you find the next ingredient is enough to burn garlic or overcook prawns. Prepping first also shows you before you start whether anything is missing, and makes timing predictable.
Indian cooking and mise en place
Indian dishes often add spices in stages: whole spices into hot fat, then aromatics, then ground spices, then tomato or liquid. Each stage can take seconds. Having each stage in its own small bowl, in order, is the single biggest help for a home cook trying a new curry.
Bring it home
- Read the whole recipe first and group ingredients by when they go in.
- Use small bowls or a plate divided into piles for each stage; a masala dabba holds the daily spices.
- Do slow prep (soaking, marinating, boiling potatoes) the day before or first thing.
- Put a bin bowl on the bench for scraps and wipe the board between tasks.
Related techniques
These lessons describe widely used professional practice. They are not any restaurant’s proprietary recipes or methods.