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Overhead view of a barley rusk topped with grated tomato, feta, olives, and oregano on a white plate

Cretan Dakos with Grated Tomato, Feta and Barley Rusks

Cretan dakos is a no-cook barley rusk salad topped with grated tomato, feta, olives and oregano. It takes 20 minutes, including a 10-minute rest.
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Prep Time 10 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
Servings: 4 servings
Course: Salad
Cuisine: Mediterranean
Calories: 450
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 4 barley rusks (dakos) (about 200 g total); dry and hard
  • 700 g ripe tomatoes (about 5 medium); room temperature, halved crosswise
  • 4 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil (60 ml); 1 tbsp for the tomatoes, 3 tbsp for drizzling
  • 1/4 tsp fine sea salt
  • 150 g feta crumbled
  • 12 Kalamata olives (about 60 g); pitted
  • 1 tbsp capers drained
  • 1 tsp dried oregano Greek if possible

Method
 

  1. Cut the tomatoes in half across the middle. Grate each half on the coarse holes of a box grater into a 2 L / 2-quart bowl, pressing the cut side against the grater until only the skin is left in your hand. Discard the skins, then stir in 1 tablespoon of the olive oil and the salt. The tomato should taste fresh and lightly salty.
  2. Set one rusk on each of four 20 cm / 8-inch plates. If your rusks are rock hard, hold each one under running tap water for 2 seconds, then shake off the drips. Don't soak them longer, or they'll turn to mush.
  3. Spoon a quarter of the grated tomato and its juice over each rusk, starting with the juice so it soaks in. Let the plates sit for 10 minutes. Press the center of a rusk with a fork. It should give a little, with a soft outside and a slight bite in the middle.
  4. Crumble about 35 to 40 g of feta over each rusk, then scatter on 3 olives and a quarter of the capers. Sprinkle each plate with 1/4 teaspoon of oregano and drizzle the remaining 3 tablespoons of olive oil evenly over the four plates. Serve within 30 minutes.

Notes

  • Use the ripest tomatoes you can find and keep every drop of the juice.
  • Taste the grated tomato after salting, then stop, because feta, olives and capers add more salt.
  • Hold rock-hard rusks under water for 2 seconds at most.
  • Serve within 30 minutes of assembling, since the rusk keeps softening as it sits.
  • Rusks vary in thickness. For thick ones, spoon on extra tomato juice instead of adding water.