Name: Bulgarian Moussaka
Ingredients: 1/2 kg of minced meat (best mix pork and beef but beef only will do too); 1 kg of potatoes, peeled and finely chopped in cubes; 2 tomatoes, finely chopped; parsley, 1/3 cupful, finely chopped; one onion, finely chopped; 3 eggs, beaten; 1 cup yogurt; 2 tbs flour; salt and pepper to taste; oil for cooking; 2 tbsp chubritza

Why it works: Pork and beef match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 5,690 recipes. Both carry 12-methyltridecanal, which smells tallowy, beefy. 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.

Pork + beeftop 1% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together5,690 recipes

Shared aroma: 12-methyltridecanal (tallowy, beefy).
Potato + oniontop 3% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together9,023 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Potato + parsleytop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,855 recipes

Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).
Potato + tomatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together2,798 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Pork + potatotop 5% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,668 recipes

Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

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

What each ingredient does

Minced meat: Provides the main savoury body and rich meaty flavour of the dish.
Potatoes: Form the bulk of the layer and soften to a tender texture during baking.
Eggs: Set with the yogurt and flour to create a firm, custard-like topping.
Yogurt: Adds moisture and mild acidity to the topping, keeping it creamy.
Flour: Thickens the egg and yogurt mixture so the topping holds together when baked.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity that blends into the meat and potato filling.

The step that matters

Pouring the egg and yogurt topping. Eggs set as they heat, so the topping should be stirred smooth and poured evenly over the filling before the final bake to avoid lumps and uneven setting.

Swap the parsley

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (meat, pork, beef, potato, tomato, onion, egg):

Garlicfits better
Thymefits better
Celeryfits about as well
Parsleythe original

Fit is the average pairing score against meat, pork, beef, potato, tomato, onion, egg. 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
Olive Oil	1 tbsp (14g)	119
Yogurt	170g plain Greek	100
Egg	1 large egg (50g)	78
Onion	1 medium (110g)	44
Tomato	1 medium (123g)	22
Black Pepper	1 tsp ground (2.3g)	6
Parsley	1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)	1
Salt	1 tsp (6g)	0
Meat	not in our table	0

Bulgarian Moussaka