When Taste Atlas listed its rankings of the top 100 salads in the world, Greeks might likely have expected it would be the famed horiatiki village salad that would be near the top, but the Cretan Dacos salad that uses a rusk was first.

It was an honor for Greece – and for Bulgaria – both countries with some related foods having four of the top 5 of the the top 10 salads in the world, Bulgaria’s Shopska coming second and the Ovcharska fifth.

Dakos, or ntakos, is a traditional Cretan dish consisting of a dry barley rusk called paximadi that is topped with crumbled myzithra cheese – some like feta – chopped ripe tomatoes, whole olives, capers, fresh oregano, and a few generous splashes of high-quality olive oil.

It’s recommended to use olive varieties such as Koroneiki, Lianes, or Tsounates. Myzithra cheese is traditionally used, and not feta, which is usually reserved for tourist restaurants, the site said. The rusk is often gently rubbed with a small piece of garlic and lightly sprinkled with sea salt.

https://www.tasteatlas.com/dakos

The best places to eat Dakos, the report said, were at the eateries Peskesi in Heraklion on Crete, Ferryman Taverna, Elounda, Crete and De Griek, Katwijk, The Netherlands, perhaps slighting many places in Greece.

As for the horiatiki which adorns just about every tourist table in Greece in the summer and is the national dish, it’s made from quartered tomatoes, sliced red onions, and chunky slices of cucumber.

Depending on the region, there can also be olives, green peppers, feta cheese, oregano, salt, pepper, or a typical dressing made from olive oil and lemon or vinegar as an option too.

Talk to Greeks about it but the site said that when feta is used it it usually just sliced but in some cases mixed in with a fork until slightly crumbled. Its name suggests that it was a rural dish, when farmers would take some essential ingredients to the field and mix them together.

According to the site the best places in Greece to get a horiatriki are at Margaro in the port of Piraeus, the famous souvlaki spot Bairaktaris in Athen’s Plaka tourist area, Melitini in the cliffside Oia; on Santorini, Taverna Platanos and O Thanasis, both of which are in Athens.

The others in the top 10 were Mechouia from Tunisia at 3, Phla Kung from Thailand at 6, Caprese from Capri Island in Italy at 7, Som Tham from Thailand at 8, Larb from Laos at 9 and Goma Wakame from Japan at 10.