Mythe en Place

 

The French have their saying, Mise en Place, a romantic way to say having everything in place before you prepare a meal.  Not sure if they say it anywhere else in the house, but you do hear it often in the kitchen.

On the other hand, Chef John agrees but also sees things a little differently.  When he was born, the doctor accidentally dropped him on his head.  If he's wearing a hat, at least you'll know why.  And if you have nothing better to do, just read on.

While great food beckons great wine, a great meal is also more fun with a lively, or even irrelevant, conversation.  Some might call those just tall tales or even foodlore nowadays.  Honestly, everything has a place, even when it's out of place...and occasionally even obsolete - just like the word mythe.

So our story begins down on the farm.  Everybody is into the whole 'farm to table' concept these days. Yes, it's healthy and doesn't include any GMO foods, but sometimes you need to make an exception.  Just like the boneless chicken farm, some things are also just utterly ridiculous.  For example, have you ever really had a bowl of fresh cream of asparagus soup right off the farm?

Being hunched over in some fancy kitchen all day really got to be a pain in my back.  Yeah, I get a free meal and a drink or two...but my back was killing me.  I saw my chiropractor and she suggested I try yoga.  I kinda laughed, touched my toes and paid her my deductible. Driving home the lightbulb went off - I could probably make money doing this.  Never one to leave a buck or two on the table, I now get paid to stretch out before I go to work.

One of the hardest things to do is relax when you are always shopping, prepping, cooking, serving and cleaning things up.  Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries, special events - it never ends.  And you got to be nice to everybody, too.  I was really stressed out so I went camping with my friend Jacque for my birthday.  His idea of helping out was to set the table.  Qu’est-ce que tu branles?

He nearly died sounds a lot better than I almost killed him.  It was my birthday and he gave me one of his books, so he lived.  The chef always lives, especially when he says you have the best cooking.  

And at the end of a meal, yes - a cigar always tastes good.  But garson, mas vino por favor!