Dakos Salad

For the last couple of years Andrea and I have been asked by local folks if we have eaten Dakos. However, in Greek the work dakos is pronounced like tacos, with a hard "t" sound.  We politely inform the locals that we have not had dakos, but would love to try it.  Of course, being southern Californians, we actually think we are looking for the ingredients to make tacos, and we are quite excited at the prospect. We set out on foot to the super market to look for tortillas, salsa, jalapenos, etc. After searching the entire store we decide that they must be out of tortillas, salsa, jalapenos, etc.

So we go to our friend the local butcher and complain that we can't find tortillas.  He looks at us like we are crazy, he has no idea what a tortilla is.  He then tells us to go back to the store, into the bread aisle, and to look for an item called paximadi.  He tells us that this food item is obvious, and we can't miss it.  We return to the store and search for paximadi, and find nothing. We give up hope on making or eating dakos salad.

Eventually we see it on a menu and order it, and it looks like the photo above.  As you can see it looks nothing like a taco, but it is truly delicious.

Dakos is a rustic salad from Crete, and this is how you make it.  Get some rusks or paximadi, giant really hard croutons, or some stale bread.  I like to use left over baguette that has hardened into a baseball bat. Put the bread in the bottom of a bowl and moisten it with a bit of water and olive oil.  Then use a box grater to grate fresh tomatoes over the bread.  Mix in some seasoning like oregano, or even store bought Italian dressing.  Top the tomatoes with feta cheese.  You can put more olive oil and balsamic vinegar if you like.  Olives are also a nice addition.  The version in the photo also has a bit of garnish made from a local plant collected on the rocks at the beach.  The plant is pickled, but for the life of me I can't remember what it is called.

It is a truly wonderful salad, people often have it on a hot day as a light supper.  It goes well with beer.

Try making one yourself.  Feel free to be creative and add your own touches.  You must use fresh tomatoes, canned or processed tomatoes will not do.

More soon.