Dakos (Cretan Meze)

In Greek: ντάκος, pronounced DAH-kohss

A traditional meze or a light meal on the island of Crete, dakos is often called "Greek bruschetta," and is easy to make with few ingredients and requires no cooking. Other names for it are ntakos or koukouvagia and some regions of Crete have their own names for the dish. 

Dakos is made with barley rusks, a specialty of Crete called kritharokoula. A rusk is a hard, twice-baked bread. Rusks from the island of Crete are made with barley flour, or a combination of barley flour and whole wheat flour. They often contain sourdough and keep for a long time, which is why there were the preferred bread in times when people did not have the opportunity to bake often. 

The thick rusks need to be rehydrated first, which can be done spraying them with water or briefly soaking them. You can find rusks at online Greek food shops, make your own, or use a thick slice of grilled or toasted crusty country bread. Regular bread isn’t nearly as hard as rusks so you’d skip the water. 

The topping for this appetizer consists of olive oil, grated tomato, and Greek cheese. The traditional cheese for this dish on the island of Crete is aged mizithra, but you can also use crumbled feta cheese. Some recipes add capers or olives. 

The sun-ripened tomatoes of Greece are very juicy and therefore most of the liquid is drained after grating the tomato. While rusks need to be softened to make them palatable, they should not turn soggy from too much tomato water. 

Just like bruschetta, dakos should be served right away. To make it ahead, you can store the grated tomatoes in the fridge for a few hours so you have them ready to assemble the dakos.