Greece, rural tradition. The horiatiki (village salad) was the everyday salad of Greek peasant farmers — whatever was ripe in the garden, dressed with the house olive oil. The specific combination of tomato, cucumber, feta, and olives reflects the agricultural abundance of the Greek Aegean summer.
The authentic Greek salad (horiatiki — village salad) has no lettuce, no dressing beyond salt and olive oil, and no chopping of the tomatoes beyond quartering. It is tomato, cucumber, green pepper, Kalamata olives, and a slab (not crumbled) of Dodoni feta, finished with dried Greek oregano and olive oil. The version found outside Greece (with lettuce, crumbled feta, and bottled dressing) is a different, inferior object.
Ouzo (with water and ice) or a glass of chilled Assyrtiko from Santorini — the mineral, citrus character of Assyrtiko alongside the salty feta and ripe tomatoes is the canonical Greek island pairing.
{"Ripe summer tomatoes: the entire salad depends on tomato quality. Out-of-season tomatoes produce a flat salad. Quartered, not diced — the large pieces are characteristic","Cucumber: thickly sliced in half-moons, not paper-thin. The cucumber should have presence and crunch","Feta: a thick slab (not crumbled) of genuine Greek PDO feta — Dodoni or Epiros brands. The slab is placed on top of the vegetables, not mixed in","Kalamata olives: the black wrinkled olives of the Peloponnese — not generic black olives from a can","The finish: dried Greek oregano crumbled over the feta slab, then excellent Cretan or Peloponnesian olive oil drizzled generously. No vinegar, no lemon — just olive oil and salt","No lettuce: lettuce is not in a real Greek salad. Period"}
The moment where Greek salad lives or dies is the tomato quality — taste a tomato before assembling. It must be sweet, acidic, and fragrant. If the tomato is bland, the entire salad will be bland. Wait for summer tomatoes; do not make this salad with winter tomatoes. A Greek farmer's market tomato in August is a different vegetable from a supermarket tomato in January.
{"Adding lettuce: definitively incorrect. The salad has no lettuce","Crumbling the feta: the slab is the presentation — crumbled feta loses its identity in the salad","Using bottled dressing or vinegar: the only dressing is olive oil and salt"}