Toast Hawaii or Hawaiian Toast is an open sandwich consisting of a slice of toast with ham and cheese, and a maraschino cherry in the middle of a pineapple slice, broiled, so that the cheese starts to melt. It was invented, or at least made popular, by the German TV cook Clemens Wilmenrod and became popular in West Germany in the 1950s. It is likely that it was adapted from the "Grilled Spamwich", a recipe published in a Spam cookbook by Hormel in 1939 and brought to West Germany by American G.I.s. Spam was not available in Germany's grocery stores so Wilmenrod replaced it with a slice of cooked ham. Preparation Lightly toasted bread is buttered, covered with a slice of cooked or raw ham, pineapple, and cheese (usually processed cheese), then baked. It is also common to place a cocktail cherry, cranberries, or other similar fruit on the finished toast, or to season it with sweet paprika powder. Similarly, other "Hawaiian-style" dishes are prepared with pineapple and cheese, such as Hawaiian pizza or Hawaiian steak. History The invention of toast Hawaii is generally credited to TV chef Clemens Wilmenrod, who first introduced it in Germany in 1955. Presumably, however, Wilmenrod took over the recipe from his competitor and teacher Hans Karl Adam. According to historian Petra Foede, it may be a variant of the "Grilled Spamwich" common in the United States, slightly adapted to German conditions. The original recipe uses Spam instead of boiled ham and grated cheese instead of a slice; otherwise, there is no difference between recipes. The "Grilled Spamwich" recipe was first published in 1939 in a cookbook by Spam manufacturer Hormel. Unlike boiled ham, however, Spam was unavailable in German grocery stores. Publicist Jürgen Ahrens sees the French croque monsieur as a precursor to Toast Hawaii. A large number of variations later emerged; the TV chef Tim Mälzer presented a "modern" variant in the 2010s featuring brown bread, Serrano ham, and Manchego cheese. Cancer risk Because of the combination of ingredients, there is the concern that toast Hawaii and similarly composed dishes have the potential to form carcinogenic nitrosamines due to the combination of nitrates in the ham curing salt and the amino acids in the cheese in the acidic environment of the pineapple. However, investigations by the Food Technology department at the Berliner Hochschule für Technik did not reveal any increased levels of nitrosamines.