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

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Adelisa wrote:
>I was looking at this recipe in the Anonymous Andalusian and am thinking of making it for an A&S competition:
>
> Qanura of Rabbit in a Frying-Pan, which is Notable 
> Cut the rabbit in small pieces and boil them in water and salt, then fry 
> them in oil. Pound walnuts and garlic well. Dissolve them with vinegar and 
> water, and pour them over the rabbit with water. Cook until it is ready and 
> serve it. 
>
> However, I cannot stand walnuts - they taste bitter to me, even in sweets 
> like baklava - and am wondering if a cook would have substituted other nuts 
> - almonds or pistachios or pine nuts, to their own taste. 

I recommend removing the skins from the walnuts. Based on my experiences with the recipes, I think this was often done, although not always specified.

Besides the method suggested by Ranvaig, you could also toast the walnuts VERY lightly, so they don't really change color or only very slightly. Then rub off the skins - try and get them to lift out of the wrinkles. Too much toasting will make them more bitter, so watch them carefully.

I cannot promise this will make them fully palatable to you, but they will be much less bitter.

Hazelnuts do not often appear in Andalusi savory dishes, if at all, so they would not be a suitable substitute. Almonds might be a reasonable substitute because they are so commonly used. But i think that the walnuts were chosen intentionally as contrast to the sweet flavor of rabbit meat.

Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)