Long before Alfred Biolek drank wine with celebrities and Rainer Sass started cooking in front of the camera, Clemens Wilmenrod delighted Germany with exotic dishes.
by Matthias Stelte
Cooking has become a popular sport, it seems. On all TV channels, chefs and would-be chefs try to convince the television audience of their skills. Everything that the globalized kitchen world has to offer is used here – cooking is international and cross-over.
Clemens Wilmenrod was Germany’s first TV chef
But that was not always so. Pizza, pasta and oregano only became known in Germany when the Germans spent their summer holidays in droves in Italy as a result of the economic miracle and discovered Mediterranean cuisine there. Germany’s first TV chef, Clemens Wilmenrod, provided a little exotic in the home. When his program “Clemens Wilmenrod bittet zu Tisch” was broadcast for the first time on February 20, 1953, the post-war years of deprivation were only a few years ago, and the Second World War was just eight years over. It was sent from the Bunker on the Hamburg Heiligengeistfeld, at that time the seat of the NWDR.
VIDEO: With Clemens Wilmenrod in the kitchen (13 min)
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Most famous recipe: Toast Hawaii
Wilmenrod conjured up the then most incredible things in his TV kitchen. He greeted his audience with the words “You dear, cute people” and delighted them with simple dishes to cook at home in his television studio. “Black Carola-style spaghetti”, “Papal chicken” and “Ticino fish schnitzel” are just a few of Wilmenrod’s creations.
Most of the dishes, however, weren’t really new: the “Arabian Horsemen’s Meat” was nothing more than a simple meatball that was spiced up with a little paprika and turned into an exotic dish. The cook recommended green beans as a side dish or – if it is served as an evening snack – bread and butter. To this day, one recipe in particular is known: the legendary “Toast Hawaii”. A slice of toast, boiled ham, pineapple from the can, baked with a slice of cheese – and not to forget the cocktail cherry, because the eyes are known to eat with them. The classic is ready. Even TV chef Johann Lafer presented his own version of this classic in a cooking show under the motto “Cooking Retro”.
Videos
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The program “My Films” shows private recordings of the prominent precooker in the studio and having a cozy drink. 7 min
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From actor to TV chef
Clemens Wilmenrod wasn’t a cook at all. Wilmenrod, whose real name was Carl Clemens Hahn, was born on July 24th, 1906, in Willmenrod in the Westerwald, hence his stage name. Wilmenrod was actually an actor, but he discovered his true calling as a television chef. Almost 200 programs were broadcast from 1953 to 1964. When he cooked in front of the camera, the streets were empty. The day after the broadcast, the products he was promoting were out of stock. If he conjured up a “Ticino fish schnitzel”, which consisted of cod, the cod became scarce the next day. Because despite all the exoticism that “Don Clemente”, his nickname, conveyed in his recipes, he still cooked with ingredients that everyone knew and had at home. He regularly used sliced cheese, canned fruit and vegetables or paprika powder.
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VIDEO: TV chef Wilmenrod recommends: Lost eggs on toast (15 min)
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Allegations of surreptitious advertising
Wilmenrod also used his popularity profitably. He was accused of surreptitious advertising because he advertised kitchen appliances and products in his program. Self “Der Spiegel” had the headline Wilmenrod and asked whether television professionals could make themselves available for advertising for a fee.
His program was last broadcast on May 16, 1964. Wilmenrod fell ill with stomach cancer a few years later, and on April 12, 1967, Germany’s first television chef died.
In the post-war period, tins, ready meals and frozen foods conquered northern Germany’s kitchens – and toast Hawaii. more
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“Please be at table in ten minutes” was the motto on February 20, 1953, when Clemens Wilmenrod cooked for the first time on television. Not all viewers are enthusiastic about his unusual creations. more
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All recipes from NDR broadcasts, a video cooking school and tips on storing and preparing various foods. more
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The Federal Republic of Germany and the GDR are taking different paths: the West is benefiting from the economic miracle, the East is relying on a planned economy. more
