Before food influencers, YouTube tutorials and recipes to save on Instagram, there was a lady who explained how to prepare dinner directly from the television. Without spectacular plating, without challenges between chefs and without ingredients that are impossible to find. Her name was Wilma De Angelis and, for many Italians, she had become a familiar presence, almost a member of the family.
Wilma De Angelis died today, 11 October 2026, in Milan, at the age of 96. The news was given by her nephew Fabio De Angelis, who greeted her with a message on Facebook: «Hi aunt Wilma. Your songs, your kindness, your smile and your joy of living will warm our hearts forever.”
Successful singer, protagonist of the Sanremo Festival and performer of songs such as Nobody And ChipWilma had managed to reinvent herself when her musical career seemed to be going through a difficult moment. And he had done it in a place where, incredibly, he didn’t feel at all comfortable: the kitchen.
«I don’t know how to cook»: thus a piece of television history was born
It was 1979 when Paolo Limiti asked her to host Telemenua program dedicated to recipes on Telemontecarlo. The idea was simple: prepare a dish in front of the cameras, explaining each step to the audience at home. Today it might seem like the most normal thing in the world. At the time, however, there were still very few television programs dedicated to cooking.
There was a small problem, however: Wilma was not a cook. She told it herself in an interview with Corriere della Sera: when Limiti proposed the program to her, she replied that she didn’t know how to cook. He, however, was convinced that precisely that inexperience could turn into his strong point. She was joined by a chef who taught her the tricks of preparation before recording.
And this is perhaps the detail that best explains his success. Wilma did not present herself as an unattainable expert. He learned, explained and accompanied spectators in the preparation of dishes with simple and direct language.
In an era when it wasn’t enough to open your smartphone to look for a recipe, that little TV appointment became a habit for many families.
Home recipes, before cooking became entertainment
Telemenu debuted in 1979 and continued in the following years, also transforming into Salt, pepper and imagination. The television adventure linked to cooking would last a total of about eighteen years.
They were very different programs from today’s cooking shows. No eliminations, harsh judges or races against the clock. At the center there was a recipe to prepare and, above all, to be able to remake at home.
Between daily dishes, preparations for parties and practical advice, Wilma De Angelis contributed to making cooking a popular television event, anticipating a phenomenon that would explode many years later.
And if today we are used to following chefs and creators who show us how to cook practically anything, it is worth remembering that part of this story also passes through that small studio in Telemontecarlo.
It wasn’t the first ever: already in the Seventies Ave Ninchi had brought recipes to the small screen with At the table at 7. But Wilma managed to transform that language into a daily and lasting presence.
Her popularity in the kitchen also led her to publish recipe books, including When Wilma cooks And In the kitchen with imagination.
From songs with Mina to the stove: a life full of second chances
Yet Wilma De Angelis was not born as the face of television cooking. Born in 1930, Milanese, she began her career in pop music in the 1950s, winning the title of Italian Jazz Queen in 1956.
In 1959 he made his debut at the Sanremo Festival with Nobody And For life. Own Nobody it would remain one of the most famous songs of his career, also thanks to Mina’s interpretation. It arrived in 1961 Chipa song that gave her the nickname Miss Chip and which the public would continue to associate with her for decades.
Then the world of music changed. New generations of singers arrived and, as Wilma herself would have said, it became increasingly difficult for many artists of her era to find space.
Television and cooking offered her a second professional life. And she managed to conquer even an audience that had never known her as a singer.
In the following years he continued to appear on television, without completely abandoning music. As late as 2024, at the age of 94, she was back singing live in The best yearsrepeating precisely Chip And Nobody.
Today there remains the memory of a woman who went through very different eras of Italian entertainment, each time managing to find a way to speak to the public.
And perhaps, between a song and a recipe, his most curious legacy is precisely this: having demonstrated that to bring people closer to cooking you don’t necessarily need to be a great chef. Sometimes you just need to know how to explain things simply.
