News Briefs
The Greek salad (or horiatiki), long praised for its unique combination of flavors and nutritional value, is a summer staple popular among locals and tourists alike.
However, dakos, a salad widely considered a Cretan specialty, has started gaining traction, becoming a serious contender with the Greek salad adorning tables in homes and restaurants.
A portion of the traditional dakos dish accounts for 20 percent of the daily need of the human body for proteins and 20 percent in dietary fibers.- Anastasios Papalazarou, dietician and nutritionist
Dakos topped the list of the world’s best-rated salads of Taste Atlas this year, an experiential travel guide aiming to promote local food and traditional dishes worldwide. Last year, dakos came in second place on the same list.
Once considered food for the poor, dakos is a simple dish comprising a dry barley rusk, grated or chopped ripe tomatoes and crumbled feta or Cretan xinomyzithra cheese, dressed with generous splashes of extra virgin olive oil.
See Also:Cooking With Extra Virgin Olive OilThe rusk is usually sprinkled with water to soften it. Some dish variations also include table olives, dry oregano and capers.
“Simple is the best way to describe Cretan cooking,” food expert Lane Nieset wrote in Food and Wine magazine.
“The main ingredients may stay the same, but Cretans can concoct multiple cookbooks out of a short pantry list of items,” she added. “Barley rusks, for example, double as croutons in salad or form bruschetta-like dakos.”
According to Anastasios Papalazarou, an Athens-based dietician and nutritionist with more than 25 years of experience, the simplicity and high nutritional profile characterize the salads of Greek cuisine.
“[The salads] are packed with nutrients and are super easy to make using inexpensive and seasonal ingredients,” Papalazarou told Olive Oil Times.
“However, they are not very popular worldwide, possibly because quality ingredients needed to make the salads are difficult to come by in countries away from the Mediterranean,” he added.
Papalazarou said that the dakos salad boasts a variety of nutrients, including plant protein, fibers and vitamins.
“A portion of the traditional dakos dish accounts for 20 percent of the daily need of the human body for proteins and 20 percent in dietary fibers,” he said. “The tomato, on the other hand, is rich in lycopene, a precious carotenoid, and also offers vitamins C and E, antioxidants. Additionally, the dish is an excellent source of monounsaturated fats due to the use of olive oil.”
See Also:Olive Oil is the Essence of Traditional Greek Dishes on Christmas EveWhile Greek salad is more effective at hydrating the human body, Papalazarou added that the dakos salad makes for a more balanced meal.
“Both dishes are of high nutritional quality,” he said. “Dakos boasts a larger quantity of carbohydrates and vitamins because of the rusk and is a more complete and filling meal.”
“The Greek salad, on the other hand, provides more hydration since it boasts a larger quantity of veggies and is a better source of flavonoids and selenium thanks to the cucumber and onion it contains,” Papalazarou added.
In Heraklion, Crete, Yiannis Somarakis runs the Kyparissi tavern, serving local specialties for decades. He said dakos is popular among locals, while foreigners are just starting to learn about it.
“Locals, especially the young, often opt for a dakos salad,” Somarakis told Olive Oil Times. “We make it with tomatoes from our garden and feta cheese. We do not wet the rusk with water. Instead, we let the olive oil and the juice of the tomatoes slowly soften the rusk.”
“Our customers from abroad, on the other hand, are quite familiar with the Greek salad but not so much with dakos,” he added. “Usually, I have to explain to them what dakos is. But, once they try it, they love it.”
Somarakis said dakos can be served as a salad or an appetizer, noting that the exact origin of the dish has yet to be fully traced.
“There is no definite consensus that dakos is of Cretan origin,” he said. “It may have originated in Crete or another place in Greece. After all, it is a quick and easy meal that can be found in every corner of the country.”
The dish’s versatility also allows for alterations to suit different dietary requirements. Papalazarou suggested some tips for a lighter version of dakos without compromising taste.
“Dakos is packed with nutrients but can also be a calorie-rich meal,” he said. “Those looking to reduce their calorie intake can replace the feta or xinomyzithra with a lower-fat cheese, add only one tablespoon of olive oil, and use a smaller rusk as the basis of the dish while increasing the quantity of the tomato and olives.”
More articles on: cooking with olive oil, Crete, culture
Jun. 26, 2023
Canneto Sabino: A Living Legacy of Sabina's Olive Oil Tradition
With roots dating back centuries, the millenary Canneto Sabino symbolizes the history and tradition of olive oil production in southeastern Lazio.
Jul. 26, 2023
Mediterranean Diet Associated with Successful Aging, Study Finds
Researchers found that Greeks who followed the Mediterranean diet were healthier and more active as they aged than those who followed the diet less closely.
Dec. 14, 2023
Traditional Turkish Olive Cultivation Practices Recognized by UNESCO
The U.N. agency said Turkey’s traditional grafting, milling and table olive production methods are valuable to our global culture and must be safeguarded.
Dec. 11, 2023
Making Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Sicily’s Tree of Peace
Volunteers harvested olives to produce oil from the tree in Palermo that commemorates anti-mafia prosecutor Paolo Borsellino.
Aug. 7, 2023
Olive Oil Production Returns to Pompeii 2,000 Years After Volcanic Eruption
Ministers and farming organizations tasted local extra virgin olive oil and table olives while promoting a UNESCO nomination for Italian cuisines.
Jan. 3, 2024
Pakistan Celebrates Foreign Investment, Local Culture at World Olive Day Gala
The event, held in the national capital, brought together farmers, consumers, foreign investors and government officials to educate, network and celebrate.
Sep. 11, 2023
Award-Winning EVOO, Local Cuisine Delight the Senses on Hvar
Eva Marija Čurin challenged guests at a dinner to decide which extra virgin olive oils paired best with local dishes.
Oct. 31, 2023
Global Olive Oil Production Set for Second Straight Year of Decline
The world’s seven largest olive oil-producing countries are expected to yield 1.97 million tons in the 2023/24 crop year, 23 percent below the average of the previous four campaigns.