--- title: How to Get Your Kitchen Ready for Cooking description: Just remember the phrase 'mise en place' canonical: https://time.com/3767820/get-kitchen-ready-for-cooking/ author: Cooking Light article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-04-27T09:00:11.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:56:54.559Z og:title: How to Get Your Kitchen Ready for Cooking og:description: Just remember the phrase 'mise en place' og:url: https://time.com/3767820/get-kitchen-ready-for-cooking/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: How to Get Your Kitchen Ready for Cooking twitter:description: Just remember the phrase 'mise en place' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # How to Get Your Kitchen Ready for Cooking by [Cooking Light](https://time.com/author/cooking-light/) ## Cooking Light Apr 27, 2015 9:00 AM UTC by [Cooking Light](https://time.com/author/cooking-light/) ## Cooking Light Apr 27, 2015 9:00 AM UTC The intent of [_Mad Delicious_](http://bit.ly/MadDeliciousWeb), my new cookbook from _Cooking Light_, is to make you a more purposeful cook, certainly to teach the “how,” but most importantly to spotlight the critical “whys” of methods, ingredients, ingredient combinations, traditions, phenomena, et al. I want you to _understand the recipe_ you’re cooking, not just survive the process. Before you begin to cook, I want to share the most important culinary principle there is—_mise en place_ (a French phrase for “putting in place”)—to help you become a more organized, effective and confident cook. It’s a simple, foundational law of the kitchen and professional cooks learn this concept before they’re allowed to crack open their knife kits. Proper mise en place is a smart rule to follow in the home kitchen too and refers more to an absolute level of readiness that allows a cook to stay in relative physical and mental “flow” when cooking. A good home cook is part ballet dancer, part chemist, part juggler, part anthropologist, part laborer and part project manager. The best inherently understands the following five principles and embraces them in their kitchens and their souls. 1. Planning is the most important step 2. Cook to suit your mood, not your cravings 3. Focus on flow 4. Multitasking is a myth 5. Cooking is not a chore—love playing with food For more cooking tips and kitchen science secret, check out [_MAD DELICIOUS: The Science of Making Healthy Food Taste Amazing!_](http://bit.ly/MadDeliciousWeb) _This_ [_article_](http://simmerandboil.cookinglight.com/2014/10/21/getting-you-and-your-kitchen-ready-to-cook/) _originally appeared on_ [_Cooking Light_](http://www.cookinglight.com)_._ _More from Cooking Light:_ * [100 Healthy Spring Recipes](http://www.cookinglight.com/food/in-season/spring-recipes?xid=TIME-ckl) * [Dining Out Dos and Don’ts: Healthy Choices at Popular Chain Restaurants](http://www.cookinglight.com/healthy-living/weight-loss/healthy-restaurant-choices?xid=TIME-ckl) * [A Toast to Moderation](http://www.cookinglight.com/healthy-living/weight-loss/alcohol-weight-loss?xid=TIME-ckl) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3767820/get-kitchen-ready-for-cooking/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3767820/get-kitchen-ready-for-cooking/"},"headline":"How to Get Your Kitchen Ready for Cooking","datePublished":"2015-04-27T09:00:11.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:56:54.559Z","description":"Just remember the phrase 'mise en place'","url":"https://time.com/3767820/get-kitchen-ready-for-cooking/","keywords":["Living","Food & Drink","Family"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cooking Light","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cooking-light/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-living/","name":"Living"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3767820/get-kitchen-ready-for-cooking/","name":"How to Get Your Kitchen Ready for Cooking"}}]}] ```