Logistics in the kitchen

In order to reduce stress in the kitchen when preparing a complicated meal, a dinner party or a full course menu, good preparation is important. But before we roll up our sleeves and start chopping our onions, we need to do some planning.

 

After choosing some delicious dishes and recipes, it’s a good idea to make a timetable for the different courses. This should answer questions like:

- ‘what can be prepared longer in advance?’

- ‘what needs to be done with which appliance?’

- ‘what needs to be done at the last minute for each dish?’

- ‘what needs to be taken out of the fridge/heated up/preheated in good time?’

 

Any bottlenecks are then immediately visible, so that you can still modify the menu if necessary. A timetable like this also highlights attention points and important moments.

 

Mis en place in the kitchen means the preparatory work, which can be done at a quieter moment. So well in advance. 

 

This not only involves cutting and chopping, but also pre-cooking, blanching or finishing parts of dishes so that they only need to be heated up. This can involve any form of preparation, as long as it doesn’t affect the flavour, appearance or texture.

 

Many professional techniques are now used in the home too, because why reinvent the wheel?

 

• With the sous-vide technique, meat, fish, poultry and vegetables can be cooked at a low temperature to the desired point and kept there, without anything overcooking. At the last moment, you can crisp up your products by frying them briefly on both sides.

 

• The oven is also useful for reducing stress in the kitchen. Particularly for moving dishes from the hob to continue cooking at a more moderate temperature. You then have your hands free to finish a sauce, for example. Remember to use an ovenproof pan though.

     

• Blanching pasta or vegetables

Not only vegetables can be cooked and put away cold, you can do the same with pasta. At the last moment, put the pasta or vegetables in a pan of boiling water, bring back to the boil, drain and the vegetables or pasta are ready to serve.

 

Serving all the components of a meal at the right temperature always seems a tour de force, but the following tricks make it much simpler. 

• Dishes can be covered and kept warm in the steam oven at 80°C. Anything which is vacuum packed can even be heated up or kept hot on the grid/steam container.

 

• On the induction hob, settings 1 and 2 are perfect for keeping dishes warm without the food burning.

 

• A hostess trolley is useful for keeping food warm and heating up plates. Preheated plates prevent the temperature of the food falling dramatically before it is served at the table.