I like to cook Puerto Rican food. That’s what I grew up on: rice, beans, meat, some Italian-American food. I know my way around the kitchen.

Lopez frames cooking as an extension of identity and upbringing: Puerto Rican staples (rice and beans) sit alongside the Italian-American influences common in New York City neighborhoods, reflecting a hybrid cultural environment. The quote emphasizes continuity between her Bronx childhood and adult life, suggesting that fame has not erased everyday competencies or domestic traditions. By stressing that she “knows [her] way around the kitchen,” she also counters celebrity stereotypes of distance from ordinary skills, presenting herself as grounded and self-sufficient. The food list functions as a shorthand for family, community, and heritage—what she “grew up on” becomes what she values and can reproduce.