Name: Stuffed Mangoes
Ingredients: 1 pound mangoes; 1 pound hamburger steak; ½ pound cheese; 2 large or 3 small tomatoes; 2 or 3 crackers; 1 onion; 1 small chili; salt to taste

Why it works: Mango and tomato match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 6% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 225 recipes. Both carry beta-damascenone, which smells apple, rose. The science ↓

Stuffed Mangoes

Ingredients

Directions

The book gives no oven temperature. The 350°F (175°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point. The book gives no cooking times either; the times in the steps were added in transcription, so check for doneness rather than trusting the clock.

Prepare

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
Remove seeds and veins from the mangoes.

Stuff and bake

In a bowl, mix hamburger steak, cheese, chopped tomatoes, crushed crackers, chopped onion, chopped chili, and salt.
Stuff the mixture into the mangoes.
Place the stuffed mangoes in a baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

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.

Mango + tomatotop 6% of all pairs

Smell alikestrong

Cooked together225 recipes

Shared aroma: beta-damascenone (apple, rose).
Tomato + oniontop 8% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together20,633 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Mango + oniontop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together682 recipes

Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).
Cheese + tomatotop 13% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together2,896 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).
Cheese + oniontop 16% of all pairs

Smell alikemoderate

Cooked together4,849 recipes

Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

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

What each ingredient does

Hamburger steak: Provides the meat base and bulk that fills the mango cavities.
Cheese: Melts during baking to bind the filling and add richness.
Crackers: Absorb juices and help the filling hold together as it bakes.
Tomatoes: Add moisture and acidity to the filling.
Mangoes: Act as edible shells that soften and sweeten as they bake.