People who cook fast know the importance of mise-en-place, a French term that means “set in place,” often shortened in English to just mise (“meez”), as in the cheffy question, “Have you done your mise?” In other words, have you chopped, diced, or otherwise prepared your ingredients, gotten out the necessary equipment, and laid it all within easy reach, so that completing the dish is little more than tossing things into the skillet or pan?
The notion of a proper mise holds for your home kitchen as well. Learn to set things in place to make your environment efficient. If you’re running hither and yon to find your spices or dig out a saucepan from a pile of plastic containers, you’re wasting time and energy. To that end:
1. Have a spice drawer. If you can afford the space, lay the bottles of dried herbs and spices in a drawer near your work area. It’s easier to see them all serried up, rather than having to dig through bottles on a shelf.
2. Declutter your counters. You need room to work, so open up precious countertop real estate. Do you need decorative frippery in the kitchen? Put away that big fruit bowl until it’s actually filled with fruit.
3. Declutter your drawers. Don’t dig for measuring spoons; organize those drawers! Especially your knife drawer. You can get a nasty cut digging through it. In fact, knives should never be stored free-floating in a drawer. Buy a holder that’s specifically made for drawers. We do not recommend a magnetic, wall-mount knife holder, especially in a home kitchen overrun with children.
4. Center your storage on your stove. Arrange your kitchen so that the things you use at the stove are near it. Move your pots, pans, whisks, and wooden spoons to the cabinets and drawers nearby so you have them at ready access. You don’t need the flatware near your burners!
5. Stack sealable containers and baking dishes in the cabinets. If they’re jammed willy-nilly on the shelf, they can fall out of the cabinet when you open the doors. A little investment in neatness really pays off.
6. Hang your pots and pans. If you want to free up cabinet space, a hanging rack is a great way to keep your cookware within reach. As a bonus, you won’t stack nonstick skillets or pans on top of each other, a good way to nick them and ruin the coating.
7. Don’t forget to mise the refrigerator. Put the things you use often near the front of the shelves. The milk should be in front of the fish sauce—unless you’re making a ton of Thai dishes! That said, don’t store milk in the fridge door where it will be subject to greater temperature fluctuations.