Jacqui Toumbas is one of the accomplished home cooks taking part in ABC iview series Recipe of the Year .
Jacqui grew up in a big Cypriot family where food was central to everything. She learnt to cook from her yiayia, mum and aunties, and those lessons continue to shape her cooking today.
After studying nutrition, Jacqui is now a business consultant and food content creator. She believes the best recipes are the ones with a story behind them.
Dakos is a peasant salad from Crete, a humble barley rusk brought to life with ripe tomato and olive oil.
Mine is built on a grated tomato and garlic dressing that I let sit so it turns savoury and sweet. I then fold through the rusks at the very last minute so they drink up all that garlicky tomato juice but keep their crunch.
Pickled red onion, Kalamata olives, capers and feta do the rest. And always with warm charred pita bread on the side, because the tomato juice at the bottom is the best part.
*This recipe has been edited for clarity
