Alicia Machado and her stormy relationship with food

The relationship of Alicia Machado with food and therefore with cooking has not always been harmonious. “Honestly, I have had a stormy relationship with food and therefore with cooking. I grew up in a wonderful home, in my house every Sunday there was family food, if it was not with my maternal grandparents it was with my paternal grandparents, my cousins… I grew up among Cubans, Venezuelans, Canaries that suddenly brought a lot of combination of many flavors and then in my life some episodes happened where unfortunately I entered into a pitched war with food, a war of life or death. It cost me almost my life. And suddenly that process lasted many years, from going from eating disorders to being pregnant. The body changes you as a woman, many natural changes that are part of growing up and I got away from food a little. I distanced myself from many things in the kitchen,” acknowledges the actress of Venezuelan origin.

Several years ago, the contestant of Top Chef VIP 3 (Telemundo) reconciled with all that again and today is enjoying a world in which it has lost “some things.” “With that wonderful relationship that I now have with cooking and food, I decide to bet on being in this competition and above all things, learn, learn more and more about good eating.”

Alicia, what was your relationship with cooking like before joining VIP Top Chef?

Honestly, I have had a stormy relationship with food and therefore cooking. First of all I grew up in a wonderful home. I have a very nice family where in my house every Sunday there was family food, if it wasn’t with my maternal grandparents it was with my paternal grandparents, my cousins… I grew up among Cubans, Venezuelans, Canaries that suddenly brought a lot of combination of many flavors. And then in my life some episodes happen that my audience already knows from many years ago where unfortunately I entered into a pitched war with food, a war of life or death, let’s say. It almost cost me my life. And suddenly that process lasted many years, from going from eating disorders to being pregnant. The body changes you as women, many natural changes that are part of growing up and I distanced myself a little from food, I distanced myself a little from many things in the kitchen. And thank God several years ago I reconciled with all that again.

How much do you usually cook on a daily basis at home?

Nowadays when I’m at home, because I work a lot, I do a lot of things for my daughter, for myself. Thank God I live with my mother. We all live together. I am still blessed to have my mother, who is my best friend, my ally, my accomplice. And my mom cooks. When she cooks I better not intervene because she is really very rich. But when I can I do my own things, my own diet. I really like to cook and have frozen things. I cook for my daughter. When I get home the first thing I do is cook her the little things she likes but she likes her mother to make them for her. Nobody else. And I do the little things for my daughter that she asks of me. When I arrive from a trip I always have to make him a treat. She likes her pasta with pomodoro sauce and cheese. And I make fun of her and that’s like something between us since she was little. My daughter connects me with everything good in life, my daughter is always that ground cable that connects me with everything beautiful.

Speaking of your daughter, how are you organizing with her now that you’re recording in Colombia?

I have my own production at home like many artists like me. I have been dealing with this logistics for many years now, the years that my daughter has been there, 15, and suddenly since my daughter was born I have not stopped working, blessed God. And it’s a familiar mechanic. I have my family. My mom supports me and she is also a very trained girl. Children come into this world to be allies of us, the parents. So there is already a long-standing mechanic there.

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What is the most complicated thing for you? VIP Top Chef?

Control my nerves. I am a person whose emotions have not been so easy to manage for many years. Now I have another obvious maturity. But I have learned to handle myself in my environment as an actress, on stage, in a studio, in my workplace as a businesswoman. There I already know how to handle myself very well, but suddenly the emotions in the kitchen that are sometimes so primitive under pressure, under schedules, under other mechanics is what is costing me. At first it was very difficult for me to snack because I get very nervous. And apart from that I am a television woman. I’ve been doing this my whole life. Cameras are not the problem for me, the problem for me is working with knives. I have worked with brushes, with makeup, with lipsticks, with perfumes, but not with knives. Suddenly handling knives… I’m a little afraid of cutting myself. The fire took me a bit. I am very afraid of fire. Always. Since I was a child. They are like some little things that are more emotional than really skill-based because, as I believe, information is power and if you are studying and preparing, perseverance and study will always take you to a better place.