Why this recipe sings

Cretan Dakos (Dakos Kritikos) is a beloved summer snack. A double-baked hard bread is accompanied by mizithra cheese, fresh tomato, herbs, and lots of extra virgin olive oil for a wonderful breakfast, lunch, or light dinner. It is fresh, budget-friendly, and delicious.

This recipe is a great representative of a beautiful Greek summer lunch.

All about this hard bread

In Crete, the double-baked hard bread is called dakos when shaped rectangular, and kritharokouloura if it is round. It is made of barley and wheat flour.

Funny, confusing fact: In Crete, although the dish is called dakos, it is made with the round-shaped kritharokouloura (barley roll).

We also call this bread paximadi. It was created as a product of necessity, as double-baked bread was preserved for a long time without fear of spoiling. This type of bread has been around since ancient times. Similar kinds of paximadi are made all over Greece with various mixes of flour. In Greek grocery stores, there are many kinds of rusks, including small in size that can replace croutons in a salad.

Where you can find rusks

Every Greek and Mediterranean grocery store will have at least one kind of rusk. You can also find them online at Titanfoods and Amazon.

Here is what you need

• Rusks. You can use both rectangular or round rusks.
• Sour mizithra cheese. Xynomizithra Kritis PDO. You can find soft sour mizithra in Greek and Mediterranean stores like Titanfoods in Astoria, NY. Don't get the hard mizithra that is used for pasta. I make a mix of half ricotta cheese and feta to create a similar taste and texture to sour mizithra. Or I crumble a block of feta and use it as a topping.
• Ripe tomatoes.  Any kind. Heirlooms, cherry tomatoes, and sugar bombs are all great as long as they are in season. If an out-of-season dakos craving happens to you, use Campari tomatoes. They are sweet and similar to Greek tomatoes.
• Fresh oregano. Substitute with fresh basil, spearmint, or parsley.
• Dried oregano. Dried basil, thyme, or spearmint works just as well.
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper.
• Sugar. It adds an extra sweet note sweetness and eliminates any acid from the tomatoes.
• Extra virgin olive oil.
• Red wine vinegar.

Additional toppings

• Balsamic vinegar. Or balsamic cream. You can add a teaspoon to the tomato mixture instead of sugar and vinegar and drizzle a bit on the top of the dakos for serving.
• Olives. Slice some pitted olives or use three or four whole (without the pit).
• Capers. Add a hand full of capers or chop them up and add them to the tomato mix.
• On the island of Zakynthos in the Ionian Sea, they make their own type of rusks. They serve them with tomatoes, olive oil, oregano, and prenza, a type of homemade cheese salad. Or they use local ladotiri cheese. It is a spicy cheese preserved in olive oil in clay jars. Soft in the early stages of maturation, it gets spicy as it matures. They also add olives, anchovies, sardine paste, or herring.

How to make dakos

Put half the extra virgin olive oil, tomatoes, sugar, red wine vinegar, dried oregano, and a teaspoon of fresh oregano leaves in a bowl. 

Mix gently and let it sit for 15 minutes.

Place each rusk on a plate or all on a platter.

Drizzle the rusks with a bit of olive oil. Divide the tomatoes on top of the risks equally. Top each rusk with the xinomyzithra.

Let the loaded dako sit for a few minutes to soak up the tomato juices*.

Drizzle the remaining oil and sprinkle fresh oregano and serve.

*The tomato juices are enough to soften the rusk. In case it is really hard, immerse it for a second in a deep dish of water or pass it under running very quickly.

Eat like a Greek

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