Mise en place – in the classroom
I spent most of my break cooking and thinking about cooking.
Cooking has always been a hobby, but with the last weeks of the semester spent
working with my freshmen on their Little Big History Projects which consist
mainly of food topics I got to spend a lot of time thinking about the way that
cuisine intersects with history in really interesting ways. Amongst all of the
home cooking, I took two cooking classes learning to make French Macarons (I have been saying macaroooons my whole life oops) &
Pad Thai at Sur la Table. Most of my home cooking involves winging it and
fumbling around the kitchen, but these classes were spent with trained chefs
who brought a lot of insight into the cooking process. My biggest takeaway
concept: Mise en place.
Cooking has always been a hobby, but with the last weeks of the semester spent
working with my freshmen on their Little Big History Projects which consist
mainly of food topics I got to spend a lot of time thinking about the way that
cuisine intersects with history in really interesting ways. Amongst all of the
home cooking, I took two cooking classes learning to make French Macarons (I have been saying macaroooons my whole life oops) &
Pad Thai at Sur la Table. Most of my home cooking involves winging it and
fumbling around the kitchen, but these classes were spent with trained chefs
who brought a lot of insight into the cooking process. My biggest takeaway
concept: Mise en place.
Big News: My sister left the couch come with me make Macarons! All-expenses-paid-post-college-unemployment life must be rough 😭
Mise en place is a French phrase that basically means
“everything in its place” and is a concept that is taught in culinary 101 as a
way to help young cooks navigate a complicated recipe. It involves making
lists, prioritizing your work, gathering ingredients, measuring everything out
ahead of time and reading the recipe several times in order to know what is
happening when, and what if any special steps, tools, or time sensitives things
need to be accounted for in the recipe sequence.
“everything in its place” and is a concept that is taught in culinary 101 as a
way to help young cooks navigate a complicated recipe. It involves making
lists, prioritizing your work, gathering ingredients, measuring everything out
ahead of time and reading the recipe several times in order to know what is
happening when, and what if any special steps, tools, or time sensitives things
need to be accounted for in the recipe sequence.
I hope I don’t look this awkward all of the time….😅
Most of the time when cooking we are making things from rote
memory, or we are trying something new unsure of if it will work but enjoying
the process never the less. But that’s not always the case; for Christmas Day,
I made ravioli on my own on the day of for the first time in my life for my
whole family. On New Years Eve I made beef wellington with our good friends with
a cut of meat that cost nearly $60, yikes I am a budget shopper so this caused
me to literally lose sleep. The stakes/steaks, lol see what I did there, felt
incredibly high. I practiced making pasta for a week ahead of time which I’m
not sure I should be proud of or embarrassed by. One a side note – my family is
not shy to let you know if they don’t like something and my brother is
literally a trained chef –so no pressure. I could not have been successful if I
didn’t plan ahead.
memory, or we are trying something new unsure of if it will work but enjoying
the process never the less. But that’s not always the case; for Christmas Day,
I made ravioli on my own on the day of for the first time in my life for my
whole family. On New Years Eve I made beef wellington with our good friends with
a cut of meat that cost nearly $60, yikes I am a budget shopper so this caused
me to literally lose sleep. The stakes/steaks, lol see what I did there, felt
incredibly high. I practiced making pasta for a week ahead of time which I’m
not sure I should be proud of or embarrassed by. One a side note – my family is
not shy to let you know if they don’t like something and my brother is
literally a trained chef –so no pressure. I could not have been successful if I
didn’t plan ahead.
So, how does this relate to teaching? Maybe for you not at
all, and if so I would invite you to stop reading here to save myself from any
further embarrassment of this not making sense. But the experience of cooking
during the holidays and the concept of Mise en Place has been milling around my
head especially as I think of ways to help my students as they begin to write
their Little Big History Project research papers.
all, and if so I would invite you to stop reading here to save myself from any
further embarrassment of this not making sense. But the experience of cooking
during the holidays and the concept of Mise en Place has been milling around my
head especially as I think of ways to help my students as they begin to write
their Little Big History Project research papers.
Most of our students approach our assignments the way that
some of us might approach weeknight cooking; that is thrown together and half
assed. Most of us, like our students have the skills that we need to do
something, but not the bandwidth, resources, or ability to figure out how to
make it work with everything else we have going on. Many of our students, like
us, are gifted at BS-ing our way through a variety of complicated tasks. But
sometimes you just can’t do that, or you do so knowing that it was the best you
could do and that it was C work at best.
some of us might approach weeknight cooking; that is thrown together and half
assed. Most of us, like our students have the skills that we need to do
something, but not the bandwidth, resources, or ability to figure out how to
make it work with everything else we have going on. Many of our students, like
us, are gifted at BS-ing our way through a variety of complicated tasks. But
sometimes you just can’t do that, or you do so knowing that it was the best you
could do and that it was C work at best.
Think about the major assignments you gave last year, and
why some students were not as successful as they should have been. My guess is
that for many of them it was time management or not accounting for the
variables that they failed to think about ahead of time. I am specifically
thinking of a group that I did a podcast interview with in the 11th
hour of the due date.
why some students were not as successful as they should have been. My guess is
that for many of them it was time management or not accounting for the
variables that they failed to think about ahead of time. I am specifically
thinking of a group that I did a podcast interview with in the 11th
hour of the due date.
The Little Big History Project is not 30-minute baked
chicken dish. It is a 3-hour Beef Wellington recipe. Last year I think we were
successful in giving our students the ingredients to succeed but this year I
want us to be more successful in helping them plan out this assignment and
assignments like it in the future. Given our student population, for the most
part the difference between students who excel and those who stay average is
more about planning/thoughtfulness than it is about academic skill level. As we
saw from the data of the PD day – for the most part our students are above
average.
chicken dish. It is a 3-hour Beef Wellington recipe. Last year I think we were
successful in giving our students the ingredients to succeed but this year I
want us to be more successful in helping them plan out this assignment and
assignments like it in the future. Given our student population, for the most
part the difference between students who excel and those who stay average is
more about planning/thoughtfulness than it is about academic skill level. As we
saw from the data of the PD day – for the most part our students are above
average.
They have great research and information thanks to Joan and
Michelle. They have the writing skills and historical thinking skills that they
have been taught throughout their years in school (albeit to varying degrees),
but most of them have not been taught to think out, plan, and break down, the
writing process. What to-do lists need to be made, what spaces need to be
created, what does it look like for something to be done, etc.
Michelle. They have the writing skills and historical thinking skills that they
have been taught throughout their years in school (albeit to varying degrees),
but most of them have not been taught to think out, plan, and break down, the
writing process. What to-do lists need to be made, what spaces need to be
created, what does it look like for something to be done, etc.
The conclusion of this is that I do not have the answers
yet, but do think that the idea of Mise en Place can be applied to some of our
bigger assignments. We spend a lot of time giving students the skills they need
to do an assignment but less time talking about how to actually approach an assignment
and I want to do that better for the sake of my students and for the sake of
myself who has to grade their work.
yet, but do think that the idea of Mise en Place can be applied to some of our
bigger assignments. We spend a lot of time giving students the skills they need
to do an assignment but less time talking about how to actually approach an assignment
and I want to do that better for the sake of my students and for the sake of
myself who has to grade their work.