Cretan Dakos - Cretan rusk salad

Suchlike Panzanella - the Italian bread salad, Cretan rusk salad (Kρητικός ντάκος) is based on bread. 

In fact, it is a large barley rusk topped with chopped tomatoes, crumbled Feta or Mizithra cheese and some olive oil. People in Creta and especially the sailors, used to eat a lot of rusks. Main reasons - rusks are lighter than fresh bread and more of them could be laded on the ships. They are unexpensive and long-lasting and do not get mouldy which is important on any island where every product is limited. Cretan dakos is still one of the traditional Cretan salads. If you do not have rusks on hand, you can use toasted or grilled bread - taste is nearly the same. 

Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane alla Parmigiana)

Melanzane alla Parmigiana is a rich dish from Northern Italy, composed of alternating layers of fried eggplant, tomato sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella.  

Roasted eggplant dip (Kyopoolu)

One of the main characteristics of the cuisine of the Balkans is the wide variety of salads. Countries in the region have hot and sunny climate and vegetables grow full of taste. But this is only one of the reasons for the huge consumption of salads here. The heart of the matter is that we start lunch and dinner with hard alcoholic drinks. Rakia in Bulgaria, raki in Turkey, ouzo and tsipouro in Greece are national drinks served at the beginning of the meal. These strong drinks go well with salad. Kyopoolu - a roasted eggplant dip, is one of the most popular Bulgarian summer salads, although it has a Turkish origin. The typical smoky taste of its roasted skin, the soft inside which absorbs a lot of olive oil and salt, the freshness of grated tomatoes and roasted peppers, the garlic as an ingredient make this dip irresistable.