Hearty, crunchy barley rusks are a twice-baked Cretan specialty that will add nutrition and hearty flavor to Mediterranean dishes. These rusks might just turn salads into your new favorite meal.
Rusks are a foundational component of salads across the island of Crete, where they’ve traditionally been baked to provide a longer-lasting, travel-friendly, nutritionally dense alternative to wheat bread.
The critical component here is the barley flour, which is much heartier and more flavorful than your standard all-purpose flour used to make standard bread croutons.
Cretan rusks may traditionally be sliced into thick dakos slices or shaped into kouloura rounds. They’re briefly dunked in water and drizzled in high-quality olive oil, then served in hearty salads or topped with olives, cheese, or meat.
Here, I bake them with a less traditional torn shape; I find that this extra texture soaks up oil especially well, and this is key in the next-level salads that incorporate rusks.
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Ingredients
You’ll need:
- Yeast
- Sugar
- Barley flour
- Whole wheat flour
- Salt
- Lukewarm water
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
A word on the flours: don’t even think about substituting all-purpose flour in here. You really do need to use barley and whole wheat flours to get the best flavor, and you may as well- this is the Cretan way.
Otherwise, what’s the point? Trust me, you’ll never look at standard croutons in the same way again.
Let’s get to it.
Mix the sugar, yeast, and 120 mL (½ cup) of lukewarm (not hot!) water, and set aside until it bubbles slightly.
In a separate mixing bowl, mix the barley flour, whole wheat flour, and salt together. Add the bubbly yeast mixture and the remaining lukewarm water.
Knead the dough for about 5 – 10 minutes. Add water as needed to ensure the dough comes together with a smooth texture.
Place the kneaded dough in a greased bowl and let prove for about 60 – 75 minutes, or until the dough roughly doubles in size.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Once the dough has risen, gently remove it from the bowl and place it on a baking sheet in a log shape.
Either slice the loaf into ½” rounds (but don’t cut all the way through the dough; leave a bit attached at the bottom) or create deep tears in the loaf to make rusks with extra texture and character.
Let the dough rest for 20 minutes for a second prove.
Bake the loaf for 60 minutes. Remove the loaf and allow it to cool slightly while lowering the oven temperature to 200°F.
Tear or slice the rusks completely to separate the loaf into pieces. Spread the rusks evenly around the pan.
Bake at 200°F for 90 – 120 minutes, or until completely dry and crispy.
Store the rusks in a sealed container for up to a week.
Serving Cretan Barley Rusks
I suggest trying them with a Cretan salad, which includes tomato, olives, capers, cucumber, and (vegan) feta (or, cubed herb tofu), dressed with olive oil and a generous sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper.
The relatively large size of these rusks make them perfect for dipping in sauces and spreads, too.
Equipment
You simply need a mixing bowl and a baking sheet to assemble these Greek rusks.
Storage
Store the fully baked rusks in a tightly sealed container for up to a week.
Top tip
Definitely use whole grain flours here- the nutty, savory, full-bodied flavor and coarse texture of these rusks is made by the use of robust flours.
FAQ
The etymology is uncertain, but: in Spanish and Portuguese, rosca means “roll”- as in, bread roll.
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