Mise en place[mee-zahn-plos] is a french term that loosely translates to "put in its place"

The term is the all encompassing lifestyle/mantra that is followed by all cooks and chefs in the restaurant industry.

The term is coined by Georges Auguste Escoffier, who got his start in the french army. His goal was to make the standards of the kitchen more like that of the military with guidelines and practices.

Mise en place means working clean. Everything done with mise en place mindset is done to make your performance cleaner, consistent and organized. This starts by putting everything in place and start working backward. In the cooking world if you are trying to cook a specific meal for a specific amount of people. You need to have that information before you start.

You need to plan for the ingredients you need to buy, make sure you have the utensils you need to cook with and properly estimate cooking time. Working backward allows you to make a checklist for the entire meal with end in mind.