Gastronomic guide TasteAtlas returns with yet another major tribute to Greek cuisine this time in its list of 100 best salads from around the globe, hailing the traditional Cretan “Dakos” the winner in ranking.
Dakos, it explains, consists of “dry barley rusk called paximadi that is topped with crumbled myzithra cheese, chopped ripe tomatoes, whole olives, capers, fresh oregano, and a few generous splashes of high-quality olive oil.”
The runner-up in its roundup is the Tibetan Smacked Cucumber Salad (拍黄瓜 – Pai Huang Gua in Chinese) made of “a combination of cucumbers, garlic, sesame oil, black vinegar, and soy sauce. The cucumber is peeled and smacked with a rolling pin so that it’s bruised and starting to break apart.”
The traditional Greek Salad, known as Horiatiki Salata (village salad) placed third in the ranking. Considered one of Greece’s national dishes, made with tomatoes, cucumber, onion, green peppers, olives, feta, olive oil and oregano, this salad is enjoyed by locals year-round (although its peak flavor comes in the summer, when tomatoes are in season). Whether Greeks agree with Dakos ranking higher than Horiatiki may be an interesting poll to conduct.
Bulgaria’s shopska salata comes in fourth. According to TasteAtlas, “it is served during summer, when one can find it in most Bulgarian restaurants, the salad consists of chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, roasted or raw peppers, and Bulgarian cheese.”
Mechouia salad from Tunisia completes the top five. Made with grilled, coarsely chopped onions, peppers, tomatoes, and garlic, olive oil and garnished with hard-boiled eggs, olives, or tuna, it is a typical appetizer and crowd pleaser in the country.
