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 national sport, it seems. On all TV channels, chefs and would-be chefs try to convince TV audiences of their skills. Everything that the globalized kitchen world has to offer is used - international and cross-over cooking is used.
Clemens Wilmenrod was Germany's first TV chef
But that was not always so. Pizza, pasta and oregano only became known in Germany when, as a result of the economic miracle, Germans flocked to Italy for the summer holidays and discovered Mediterranean cuisine there. Germany's first TV chef, Clemens Wilmenrod, provided a little exoticism at home. When his program "Clemens Wilmenrod asks to table" was broadcast for the first time on February 20, 1953, the post-war period of deprivation was only a few years ago, the Second World War had ended just eight years ago. It was broadcast from the bunker on Hamburg's Heiligengeistfeld, then the seat of the NWDR.
Most famous recipe:Toast Hawaii
Wilmenrod conjured up the most unbelievable things of the time in his television kitchen. He greeted his viewers with the words "Dear, sweet people" and made them happy with simple dishes to cook in his television studio. "Spaghetti black Carola style", "Pope's chicken" and "Ticino fish schnitzel" are just a few of Wilmenrod's creations.
But most of the dishes weren't really new at all:The "Arabian Riders' Meat" was nothing more than a simple meatball that, spiced up with a little paprika powder, grew into an exotic dish. The chef recommended green beans as an accompaniment or - should it be served as an evening snack - a sandwich with butter. One recipe in particular is known to this day:the legendary "Toast Hawaii". A slice of toast, boiled ham, canned pineapple, baked with a slice of cheese - and don't forget the cocktail cherry, because it's a feast for the eyes. The classic is ready. Even TV chef Johann Lafer presented his own version of this classic in a cooking program under the motto "Retro cooking".
From actor to TV chef
Clemens Wilmenrod was not a chef at all. Wilmenrod, whose real name was Carl Clemens Hahn, was born on July 24, 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 deserted. The day after the show, the products he was promoting were out of stock. If he conjured up a "Tessiner Fischschnitzel" made from cod, cod was scarce the next day. Because despite all the exoticism that "Don Clemente", as he was nicknamed, 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.
Allegations of surreptitious advertising
Wilmenrod also used his popularity profitably. He was accused of surreptitious advertising because he advertised kitchen appliances and products on his show. Even "Der Spiegel" headlined with Wilmenrod and asked the question whether television professionals could make themselves available for advertising for a fee.
His show finally aired for the last time on May 16, 1964. Wilmenrod fell ill with stomach cancer a few years later, and Germany's first TV chef died on April 12, 1967.