The Orofino’s chicken soup is available in the delivery service

For Muzaffer Inanici, there is only one dish that can comfort his soul in difficult times: red chicken soup based on his mother’s recipe. “We offer it as ‘Arabian chicken soup’. That’s their common name, but there’s nothing Arabic about the soup,” says restaurant owner Zoppenbroich.

He does not know why the soup was once called that, only that it is known to everyone in its original homeland, the region between the Taurus Mountains and Central Anatolia. “In winter, we had soup at home almost every Sunday. It warms you from the inside and makes you feel good when you don’t feel like it. Each housewife in the region has her own recipe for soup, the crucial element of which is roasting flour.

Because if it’s over-roasted, the soup tastes burnt. There are also different approaches when it comes to the meat itself. Inanici would never use a rooster because its meat is too tough for him. He prefers the leg and breast of a large soup chicken: “The soup then has more flavor than the variant with a small chicken.”

Not only Inanici will no longer serve its guests chicken soup in the Orofino for the time being. On March 19, he closed his restaurant indefinitely. Since then, he has been delivering food or making it available for customers to pick up at the entrance to the restaurant. Of course, Arabic chicken soup is also offered. “We already had a drop in sales last week because half of the table reservations were cancelled,” he says. When the city then regulated restaurant hours from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., “I walked out. We are not close enough to the center of Rheydt for a purely lunchtime menu”, regrets this 61-year-old man, who has lived in Germany for 50 years.

He has sent his ten employees home, and he runs the delivery service with the help of his wife and two children. He doesn’t know how to proceed. “Financially, I can’t keep the restaurant closed for three months.” He has already approached banks about a bridging loan.

He experiences great solidarity from friends and regular customers: “People call me every day and ask me how they can help me. It gives me hope,” says Inanici. He and his wife now spend a lot of time walking together on country roads near the Orofino: “I think positively and now I enjoy my free time with my family.”

Ingredients for four people: 1 small soup chicken or leg and breast of a large soup chicken, 150 g tomato paste, 1 tablespoon hot paprika paste, 4½ liters water, salt, 1 tablespoon butter, 200 g flour, lemons for garnish

preparation: Pour cold water into a saucepan. Salt the meat, wash it and put it in water. Salt. Before the water boils, skim the egg white. After boiling, simmer at low temperature. Meanwhile, melt ½ tablespoon of butter in a saucepan. Add flour and toast until golden brown, stirring constantly. Then leave to cool.

Then put ½ tablespoon of butter in a small saucepan, add the tomato and paprika paste and sauté while stirring. Add 200ml of water or chicken stock, simmer for 20 minutes. Remove the cooked chicken from the pot. Stir the tomato and paprika sauce into the chicken broth. Let simmer 15 to 20 minutes. Then add a little water or chicken broth to the roasted flour and mix with a whisk. Add to chicken broth and simmer for half an hour. Divide the meat into small pieces, also add to the broth and simmer for half an hour. Serve garnished with lemons.

For suits a spicy and slightly fruity Riesling.

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