Every Greek restaurant in Australia serves a Greek salad. Most of them get it wrong. Not catastrophically wrong, but wrong enough that anyone who has eaten a horiatiki in an actual Greek village would notice the difference immediately.

The biggest problem is that people treat Greek salad like a regular tossed salad. They dice everything into small, uniform pieces, throw it in a bowl, toss it with dressing, and call it Greek. This is not how it works.

What a Horiatiki Actually Is

The word horiatiki means “village style.” It is a rustic salad, and that rustic quality is the entire point. The tomatoes should be cut into large, irregular wedges. The cucumber should be in thick half-moons or chunks. The onion should be in thick rings or half-rings. The capsicum should be in broad strips.

And the feta. The feta does not get crumbled and scattered. It sits in a thick slab on top of the salad like a crown. One piece, right in the middle. You break off bits with your fork as you eat.

There is no lettuce in a horiatiki. No rocket, no spinach, no mixed leaves. If there is lettuce in your Greek salad, it is not a horiatiki. It might be a fine salad, but it is something else.

The Ingredients

Here is what goes into a proper horiatiki:

• 4 large ripe tomatoes, cut into large wedges
• 1 telegraph cucumber, cut into thick half-moons (do not peel it, or at most peel it in stripes)
• 1 red onion, cut into rings
• 1 green capsicum, cut into thick rings or strips
• A generous handful of Kalamata olives (with pits, always with pits)
• A thick slab of good feta cheese
• Dried oregano
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Red wine vinegar (optional)
• Salt

That is it. No capers, no avocado, no sun-dried tomatoes, no balsamic glaze.

The Assembly

Arrange the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, capsicum, and olives on a plate or in a shallow bowl. Do not toss them. Just place them. Season with salt and a generous pinch of dried oregano. Place the slab of feta on top. Drizzle everything generously with olive oil. If you like, add a splash of red wine vinegar.

The olive oil and the juices from the tomatoes create the dressing. There is no need for anything else. When you get to the bottom of the plate, that pool of olive oil and tomato juice is the best part. You mop it up with bread.

The Tomato Problem

The biggest obstacle to making a great Greek salad in Australia is the tomatoes. In Greece, especially in summer, the tomatoes are extraordinary. They are deeply red, slightly imperfect, and they taste like sunshine.

Here, unless you grow your own or shop at farmers markets in season, the tomatoes can be disappointing. My advice: only make horiatiki when tomatoes are in season, roughly December through March in most of Australia. Out of season, make a different salad.

If you must have a Greek-adjacent salad in winter, roast your tomatoes first. Cut them in half, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt and oregano, and roast at 160 degrees for an hour. They will not be the same as fresh summer tomatoes, but they will have concentrated flavour that works beautifully.

The Feta Matters

Do not use Danish feta or any feta that comes pre-crumbled in a plastic tub. For a horiatiki, you want a Greek feta made from sheep’s milk, or a sheep and goat milk blend. It should be firm enough to cut into a clean slab, creamy, tangy, and a little salty.

In Australia, look for Greek feta at the deli counter of your local Greek grocer. There are also excellent Australian-made sheep’s milk fetas from producers in Victoria and Tasmania. Avoid anything that describes itself as “smooth” or “creamy” feta, as those are designed for different applications.

When to Serve It

A horiatiki is a meze dish, not a side salad. In Greece, it arrives at the table alongside other small dishes: tzatziki, taramasalata, bread, maybe some grilled octopus or fried cheese. It holds its own as a centrepiece.

In summer, a large horiatiki with good bread and a glass of cold retsina or a crisp Assyrtiko is a complete meal. Do not overthink it. The beauty of this salad is its simplicity.

Just please stop dicing the tomatoes.