Most of us know Lana Parrilla as the evil-doing queen Regina on Once Upon a Time.  In her real life Lana doesn't cook up evil spells, but she make and delicious family meals.  Find out more here.

You grew up in a Puerto Rican and Italian home.  Both cultures are very food oriented.  Can you tell me a little about the food culture growing up and a great food memory that you have?

My dad [a deep sea fisherman] and I went fishing a lot in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn. We would get up at 5am or 6am in the morning and my dad would prepare [the] fish and make a red sauce with carrots [and] celery and put it in the oven.  It was delicious!

I understand you're quite a gourmand.  What's an average dinner for you?

I love to cook and [I] improvise a lot.  I don’t have any recipes I’m known for, but I love to cook when I can.  I make all different things since I’m half Italian and Puerto Rican… [I] love Bolognese. At home we love making steak, pasta dishes, lots of fish.  We always have a green salad.
 
What's one food you can't get enough of?

Barbecue ribs!
 
How does food play into the on-set chemistry?  Do you and your fellow actors share recipes and meals?

Not really – we don’t really have the time on set.  Ginnifer Goodwin loves to bake but I haven’t tried [any of her sweets] yet.
 
Your character, Regina, is known for her apple turnovers that are to die for. Do you have your own favorite apple recipe?

I didn’t even like apples until I started playing the evil queen.  I thought maybe I should start eating some of these.

I now eat three apples a day thanks to my boyfriend's three sons.  They love apples and go through bags of them [every] week.  I do love [apple] pie a la mode.

Catch the season premiere on Sunday September 30th.