[Sca-cooks] Substitution of nuts in qanura of rabbit

[Christiane]

>Have you tried blanching the walnuts to remove the thin brown outer 
>skin?  It's rather a nuisance, but that's where some of the bitter 
>taste is.
>
>Add walnuts to a pot of boiling water, remove the pot from the heat 
>and let stand for 2 minutes, then drain. Rub with a towel to remove 
>the skins.
>
>If you end up substituting, make sure your A&S entry says why you did 
>the substitution.
>
>Ranvaig

Thanks for the suggestions. The reason why I asked about the nut substitution is that the Sicilians have a rabbit dish, "cunnigiu in stemperata," which is rabbit in a sauce of vinegar, sugar, capers, raisins, and pine nuts. Some chefs add tomato concentrate, but most do not - and the most traditional versions of this recipe just stick with the vinegar, sugar, capers, raisins, and pine nuts.

What I'll do for the A&S is make the dish exactly as specified in the Anonymous Andalusian, and also make cunnigiu in stemperata - have the two dishes side-by-side, and talk in the paper about the Arab origins of the traditional Sicilian dish. There's a meat market by me with an abundance of bunnies, so I won't have any problems getting another two rabbits.

Adelisa