Clemens Wilmenrod
Encyclopedia
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
cook
Cook (profession)
A cook is a person who prepares food for consumption. In Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Canada this profession requires government approval ....
. His pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...
was derived from the municipality Willmenrod
Willmenrod
Willmenrod is an Ortsgemeinde – a community belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde – in the Westerwaldkreis in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-Location:...
in the Westerwald
Westerwald
The Westerwald is a low mountain range on the right bank of the River Rhine in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate, Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia. It is a part of the Rhine Massif...
region, where he was born as Karl Clemens Hahn. Wilmenrod is considered the inventor of Toast Hawaii
Toast Hawaii
Toast Hawaii is an open sandwich consisting of a slice of toast with ham, pineapple in the middle of a maraschino cherry and cheese, grilled from above, so that the cheese starts to melt. It was invented, or at least made popular, by the German TV cook Clemens Wilmenrod and is considered typical...
, "Arabian riders' meat" and "stuffed strawberry". He is also credited with making Rumtopf
Rumtopf
Rumtopf , which literally means rum pot, is a German and Danish dessert, traditionally eaten around Christmas.A mixture of various kinds of fruit, high-strength rum and sugar is filled into a large stoneware pot and matured for several months until the fruit is very soft and completely saturated...
popular in Southern and Western Germany, and with introducing turkey as a typical Christmas
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
dinner.
From February 20, 1953, to May 16, 1964, he starred in Bitte in zehn Minuten zu Tisch on the WDR
Westdeutscher Rundfunk
Westdeutscher Rundfunk is a German public-broadcasting institution based in the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia with its main office in Cologne. WDR is a constituent member of the consortium of German public-broadcasting institutions, ARD...
, 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
Apron
An apron is an outer protective garment that covers primarily the front of the body. It may be worn for hygienic reasons as well as in order to protect clothes from wear and tear. The apron is commonly part of the uniform of several work categories, including waitresses, nurses, and domestic...
with a caricature by Mirko Szewczuk
Mirko Szewczuk
Mirko Szewczuk, was born Volodymyr Szewczuk was a German cartoonist of Austrian origin....
.
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
Ketchup is a sweet-and-tangy condiment typically made from tomatoes, vinegar, sugar or high-fructose corn syrup and an assortment of...
. 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 genus Gadus, belonging to the family Gadidae, and is also used in the common name for various other fishes. Cod is a popular food with a mild flavor, low fat content and a dense, flaky white flesh. Cod livers are processed to make cod liver oil, an important source of...
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
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in 1967 in a hospital in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
after being diagnosed with stomach cancer
Stomach cancer
Gastric cancer, commonly referred to as stomach cancer, can develop in any part of the stomach and may spread throughout the stomach and to other organs; particularly the esophagus, lungs, lymph nodes, and the liver...
.