Name: Serbian Meatloaf
Ingredients: 8 smoked streaky,rindless bacon slices; 2 lean bacon slices, diced; 1 onion ,finely chopped; 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 115 g/4 oz/ 2 cups fresh breadcrumbs; 90ml/6 tbsp milk; 450g/1 lb lean minced beef; 450g/1 lb lean minced pork; 2.5 ml/ 1/2 tsp chopped fresh thyme; 30 ml/2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley; 2 eggs,beaten; salt and freshly ground black pepper herby mashed potatoes and; carrots, to serve

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. 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.

Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,057 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together29,058 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Beef + porktop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,690 recipes

Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
Clove + thymetop 2% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together4,108 recipes

Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).
Garlic + parsleytop 4% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together9,308 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

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

What each ingredient does

Minced beef: Provides the main meaty body and savoury flavour of the loaf.
Minced pork: Adds fat and richness, keeping the loaf moister as it cooks.
Eggs: Bind the meat and crumbs so the loaf holds its shape when sliced.
Fresh breadcrumbs: Soak up milk and hold moisture within the meat, keeping the texture tender.
Streaky bacon: Lines the tin and renders fat into the loaf, adding savouriness and flavour.

The step that matters

Soak the breadcrumbs in the milk until fully absorbed. Breadcrumbs soaked in milk swell and trap moisture. If they stay dry or hold liquid, the meat can turn dense or wet, affecting texture when the loaf is sliced.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (onion, garlic, milk, beef, pork, thyme, parsley):

Marjoramfits better
Oreganofits better
Winter savoryfits better
Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against onion, garlic, milk, beef, pork, thyme, parsley. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

Ingredient	Portion assumed	kcal
Flour	1 cup (125g) all-purpose	455
Beef	100g cooked	250
Pork	100g cooked	242
Potato	1 medium (173g) baked	161
Milk	1 cup (244ml) whole	149
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Bacon	1 slice cooked (8g)	43
Carrot	1 medium (61g)	25
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Garlic	1 clove (3g)	4
Thyme	1 tsp dried (1.4g)	4
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0

Serbian Meatloaf