“She built her present from deep family tradition and deeply honors the cultural roots of her homeland,” said the renowned Colombian actress and presenter. Carmen Villalobos welcomed Sheynnis PalaciosMiss Universe 2023, on the Top Chef VIP program, broadcast on the Telemundo network.
The Nicaraguan model appeared on the July 18 broadcast as the guest of the night on the reality show in which well-known figures from the entertainment world such as the Venezuelan participated Alicia MachadoMiss Universe 1996, the Mexican actress, singer and model Patricia Christmas as well as the Spanish actor Jose Maria Galeano.
Related news: Sheynnis Palacios, Miss Universe 2023: «We are preparing to arrive in Nicaragua»
Palacios came to the third season of the show to taste and rate the “Mexican tamales” that five of the nine contestants would make. The beauty would help to choose the winners of the rescue challenge.
“I’m excited to share with all of you. Of course, to see your culinary arts and I’m eager to try a little bit of that final result (dishes),” she said upon arriving at the Top Chef VIP kitchen after greeting the celebrities who are in the competition.
The Nicaraguan did not miss the opportunity to talk about her homeland and nacatamales, the dish that would be the inspiration for the main challenge. “I am the first Nicaraguan to win this title (Miss Universe). This dream became a reality through a lot of perseverance, work, resilience, a lot of love and a lot of passion. My family and I made nacatamales and sold them to be able to pay for different basic needs. I have a lot of affection for nacatamales. In other cases they are tamales, hallacas and also banana leaves in the Dominican Republic,” she recalled.
Costa Rican Gary Centeno, one of the competitors, reflected on the words of the universal queen and recalled that his grandmother also sold nacatamales and tortillas to survive; which is why he felt identified with Palacios’ story.
The challenge of tamales
Sheynnis Palacios shared the jury with Antonio de Livier, known as chef “Toño”, Mexican Belén Alonso and Inés Páez, better known as chef “Tita”, from the Dominican Republic.
After the 60 minutes allotted for the challenge, the contestants presented their dishes. Miss Universe 2023 was in charge of announcing who had the best tamales. For the first time, there was a double salvation: Venezuelan actress and businesswoman Carolina Tejera and Natalia Juárez, actress and content creator, won over with their food and were left out of the elimination challenge.
One of the emotional moments was with the presentation of Gary Centeno’s dish. “You don’t know how much this dish meant to me, because it reminded me of Nicaragua when I sold nacatamales with my family,” said Miss Universe 2023 with a broken voice as she recalled her childhood memories and the economic difficulties she and her family went through.
“And despite the time you had (one hour), the texture of a nacatamal was not present, but the flavor of the Nicaraguan people is there,” he stressed after standing up and applauding the Costa Rican tamale.
Palacios also embraced Alicia Machado. Two Miss Universes on the same stage.
This was the conclusion of another participation by the journalist and universal queen who has also been invited to programs such as La Mesa Caliente and La Casa de los Famosos in its fourth edition.
