Dakos - Cretan FoodOne of our favourites. Dakos, whether you eat it for breakfast, lunch or as a snack any time of the day, is always wholesome and filling. To make dákos you start with bread rusks. We like the traditional barley krithári or wholemeal olikís alésios rusks with their chunky texture and wholesome flavour. The word ντάκος comes from the way the bread is prepared. This is slicing the bread loaf three quarters of the way through and then baking.
Bread rusks paximádia are enjoyed throughout Greece. Traditionally in Greece paximádia are made by cutting slices from a loaf of fresh home-made bread and then baking them again in the oven till crunchy. As you can see dako and paximádia are very similar, the difference being how they are cut before they are cooked. Drizzle a little water on the rusks to soften, then pore plenty of Cretan olive oil over them. Grate fresh garden tomatoes directly onto the rusks and add onion rings.
Break chunky shards of Greek feta on top. Sprinkle with black or green Greek olives that have been peeled from the pips by hand. Then add cracked pepper and a little salt and another dowsing of olive oil. This is one way to make ντάκος. Another is dakos salad. Use the same ingredients; however, place them all in a nice big salad bowl. Of course, adjust the ingredients to the number of people that you are entertaining.
Once baked, the rusk can be broken from the loaf and used as desired. A basic favourite is water drizzled ντάκος rusk dowsed with olive oil & sprinkled with fresh oregano picked from the garden, accompanied with olives on the side and of course a glass of dópio local wine or icy cold ouzo.
Kali Orexi !! Καλη ‘Ορεξη !!
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