Clemens Wilmenrod (July 24, 1906 – April 12, 1967) was the first German television

cook Cook or The Cook may refer to: Food preparation * Cooking, the preparation of food * Cook (domestic worker), a household staff member who prepares food * Cook (profession), an individual who prepares food for consumption in the food industry * C ...

. His

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

was derived from the municipality Willmenrod in the

Westerwald The Westerwald (; literally 'Western forest') is a low mountain range on the right bank of the river Rhine in the States of Germany, German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhenish Ma ...

region, where he was born as Carl Clemens Hahn. Wilmenrod is considered the inventor of Toast Hawaii, "Arabian Horseman's Delight" (

mincemeat Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped apples and dried fruit, distilled spirits or vinegar, spices, and optionally, meat and beef suet. Mincemeat is usually used as a pie or pastry filling. Traditional mincemeat recipes contain meat, notably beef ...

with

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s) and "stuffed

strawberry The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown Hybrid (biology), hybrid plant cultivated worldwide for its fruit. The genus ''Fragaria'', the strawberries, is in the rose family, Rosaceae. The fruit ...

" (strawberry stuffed with an

almond The almond (''Prunus amygdalus'', Synonym (taxonomy)#Botany, syn. ''Prunus dulcis'') is a species of tree from the genus ''Prunus''. Along with the peach, it is classified in the subgenus ''Amygdalus'', distinguished from the other subgenera ...

). He is also credited with making Rumtopf popular in Southern and Western Germany, and with introducing

turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

as a typical Christmas dinner. Wilmenrod was not a trained chef, but had studied as an actor and had an acting career before becoming the star of his television program. From February 20, 1953, to May 16, 1964, he starred in ''Bitte in zehn Minuten zu Tisch'' on WDR television, assisted by his wife Erika, and provided his audience with suggestions for creative cooking in 185 broadcasts. Wilmenrod, also known as "Don Clemente", wore a trademark apron with a caricature by Mirko Szewczuk. The dishes presented were characterized by the general scarcity of the post-war period, and Wilmenrod was not ashamed to use canned vegetables, instant sauces, and even

ketchup Ketchup or catsup is a table condiment with a sweet and sour flavor. "Ketchup" now typically refers to tomato ketchup, although early recipes for different varieties contained mushrooms, oysters, mussels, egg whites, grapes, or walnuts, amon ...

. While this may not measure up to the current state of the culinary art, he had a great influence on the post-war generation in Germany: his programmes and cookbooks were blockbusters, and when he presented a

cod Cod (: cod) is the common name for the demersal fish genus ''Gadus'', belonging to the family (biology), family Gadidae. Cod is also used as part of the common name for a number of other fish species, and one species that belongs to genus ''Gad ...

recipe, for instance, cod would be sold out for weeks. In one memorable incident, after being accused by a viewer of not having invented the "filled strawberry" himself, Wilmenrod put a long cook's knife against his chest and swore to kill himself if a single viewer who had previously eaten filled strawberry were to call. He committed suicide in 1967 in a hospital in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

after being diagnosed with

stomach cancer Stomach cancer, also known as gastric cancer, is a malignant tumor of the stomach. It is a cancer that develops in the Gastric mucosa, lining of the stomach. Most cases of stomach cancers are gastric carcinomas, which can be divided into a numb ...

.The grafting gourmet: Putting the kitsch into kitchen
/ref> His life has been made into the made-for-TV movie ' where he was portrayed by Jan Josef Liefers in 2009.

References

External links

Fernsehmuseum TV-Koch Clemens Wilmenrod

Wilmenrod showing how to prepare the "Stuffed strawberries"

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilmenrod, Clemens 1906 births 1967 suicides German television chefs German television personalities Suicides in Germany German chefs 1967 deaths