I discovered this salad while visiting Crete several years ago and knew right away I would be making it at home. It’s so easy to assemble and requires no cooking, making it a perfect meal on a hot summer day. The base of the salad is a thick, crunchy bread called rusk. Traditional Dakos is made with 100% barley rusks. You can order barley rusks from Amazon but in my area, I found them at the Euro Market in Broomall. Rusks are VERY hard and crunchy so you need to quickly pass them under running water to slightly soften them before topping with the ingredients. Each rusk gets a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, some finely chopped tomato (or fresh tomato sauce), feta cheese, Greek olives and a sprinkle of fresh oregano or basil.
Dakos
This salad does not require a recipe because it’s a simple assembly of ingredients.
- Pass the barley rusk under running water (very quickly because you don’t want to soften them too much) and place them on a salad plate.
- Drizzle the rusk with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil.
- Top with chopped tomatoes (or fresh tomato sauce), crumbled feta cheese, Greek olives, and a sprinkle of fresh oregano or basil.
For a more detailed description of Dakos and other authentic Greek recipes, check out Olive Tomato.