Dakos Salad (Cretan Dakos Recipe): Tomato, Feta & Barley Rusk

Dakos is the salad Cretan shepherds carried into the fields: a hard barley rusk, ripe tomato, cheese and olive oil. It needs no cooking and takes about ten minutes, which also means there is nowhere for a mediocre ingredient to hide. If you have only ever seen dakos on a taverna menu, this dakos salad recipe shows how simple the real thing is, and why the olive oil matters more than anything else on the plate.

Prep: 10 minutes | Cook: none | Serves: 2 | Origin: Crete, Greece

What Is Dakos?

Dakos (also spelled ntakos) is a traditional Cretan meze built on a barley rusk called paximadi. The rusk is briefly moistened, then topped with grated tomato, crumbled cheese, olives and oregano, and finished with a generous pour of olive oil. In Crete you will find it everywhere, from village kitchens to seaside tavernas. The dish tastes of exactly what goes into it, so the tomatoes and the oil have to be good.

Dakos Salad Ingredients

• 2 large barley rusks (paximadia)
• 2 very ripe tomatoes, about 10 oz (300 g), coarsely grated
• 4 oz (120 g) feta or mizithra, crumbled
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (see below)
• A handful of Kalamata olives
• Dried Greek oregano
• Flaky sea salt

Can't find barley rusks? Greek grocers and online shops sell paximadia. If you cannot get them, thick, very hard whole-grain rusks work; ordinary bread does not, because it turns soggy instead of softening.

How to Make Cretan Dakos

1. Dampen the rusk, barely. Hold each rusk under a running tap for one second, no more, then set it on a plate. It should be slightly damp, not wet. This is the one rule of dakos: never soak the rusk in water.
2. Grate the tomatoes. Grate them on the coarse side of a box grater and discard the skins. Season the pulp with a pinch of sea salt.
3. Top the rusks. Spoon the tomato generously over the rusks and leave them for two or three minutes so the juice can work its way through.
4. Add cheese, olives and oregano. Crumble the feta over the top, scatter the olives, and rub dried oregano between your palms over the plate.
5. Finish with olive oil. Pour over a heavy stream of extra virgin olive oil, more than feels reasonable, and eat right away while the rusk still has some bite.

Which Olive Oil for Dakos?

With only four main ingredients and no heat, the oil is the dish. Choose an extra virgin olive oil with real character: grassy, fresh and a little peppery, strong enough to stand up to sweet tomato and salty cheese. (Our guide on how to spot a truly great extra virgin olive oil explains what to look for.)

We make dakos with two of our Cretan oils:

• Memilon Crete: early harvest, 0.29–0.31% acidity and 610 mg/kg polyphenols in our lab analyses. Single-origin Koroneiki from Phaistos in the Messara plain, grassy and peppery with a clean bitter finish. It is our everyday dakos oil.
• Memilon BIO Crete: our organic extra virgin olive oil, with 0.18% acidity in its lab analysis. It is a finishing oil first, so it suits the last drizzle over the tomato, where you taste it most.

Tips for the Best Dakos

• Use the ripest tomatoes you can find. Out of season, dakos is only as good as the tomato. Peak-summer tomatoes make it.
• Do not grate in advance. Grate the tomatoes just before you assemble so they stay fresh and juicy.
• Do not skimp on the oil. The oil softens the rusk as much as the tomato does.
• Serve it immediately. Dakos is not a make-ahead dish; the rusk loses its bite within minutes.

Dakos FAQ

What are Cretan rusks (paximadia)?

Cretan rusks, or paximadia, are barley bread that is baked, sliced and baked again until completely dry and very hard. That is why they keep for months and why they need tomato juice and olive oil, not soaking, to soften for dakos.

Is dakos a salad?

Yes. In Crete it is served as a salad or meze. It is often called a rusk salad because it is built on barley rusk instead of lettuce.

Which cheese goes on traditional dakos?

The traditional cheese is xinomizithra or mizithra, soft, tangy Cretan cheeses. Feta is a very good, easier-to-find substitute.

Do you soak the rusk for dakos?

No. Run it under the tap for a second and let the tomato juice and olive oil do the softening. Soaking makes it mushy.

What can I serve with dakos?

It works as a starter or light lunch. Try it next to our authentic Greek salad, and finish the meal with a slice of lemon olive oil cake.

Cook With the Oil Crete Cooks With

Great dakos starts with great olive oil. You can find our high polyphenol Greek olive oil from Crete and our organic Greek extra virgin olive oil from Crete in our shop, both with free shipping on every order, or browse the full range of our Greek extra virgin olive oils.