Name: Cheese-Stuffed Potatoes with Yogurt-Spice Paste and Sesame Seed Crust
Yield: Makes 6 servings
Ingredients: 3 large unpeeled russet potatoes (each about 16 ounces), scrubbed; 1 cup (packed) coarsely grated Monterey Jack cheese (about 4 ounces); 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted; 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro; 1 green onion, finely chopped; 1 serrano chile, seeded, minced; 1 tablespoon sesame seeds; Coarse kosher salt; 2 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped; 2 teaspoons chopped peeled fresh ginger; 2 teaspoons sweet or hot paprika; 1 teaspoon salt; 1 teaspoon ground coriander; 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin; 1/2 cup plain whole-milk Greek-style yogurt*; 4 teaspoons vegetable oil; 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice; 1/2 cup sesame seeds (about 2.6 ounces); Special equipment: disposable 11 3/4 x 8 1/2 x 1 1/4-inch aluminum baking pan (for drips)

Why it works: Clove and ginger match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 6,038 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

Clove + gingertop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together6,038 recipes

Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + garlictop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,517 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Onion + sesametop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,192 recipes

Shared aroma: gamma-nonanolactone (coconut, sweet).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (potato, cheese, butter, onion, sesame, garlic, ginger):

Cuminfits better
Thymefits better
Turmericfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against potato, cheese, butter, onion, sesame, garlic, ginger. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Sesame	1 tbsp (14g)	120
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Cheese	1 oz (28g) cheddar	113
Butter	1 tbsp (14g)	102
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Lemon	juice of 1 lemon (48ml)	12
Cumin	1 tsp ground (2.1g)	8
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Ginger	1 tsp grated fresh (2g)	2
Cilantro	1 tbsp chopped fresh (1g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Coriander	not in our table	0

Cheese-Stuffed Potatoes with Yogurt-Spice Paste and Sesame Seed Crust