A lot of people do not have a favourite food or any food they are loyal to, and that is okay in a way. But anytime anyone ask me why I still choose beans and soft fried plantain (dodo) over over things that cost more and look better on a plate, and the honest answer I finally gave Sometimes ago took me a while to come by. It is not nostalgia. I have patiently examined myself on that in a careful way, because a lot of others people's loyalty food always boils down to when they were still very young. Like a childhood magic and in my own case, I do not necessarily fall for that. I don't need it.
I have been out and I have tested and eaten some better cooked version of meals from the best of almost every other dishes I sometimes loved when I was still very much younger and at some point, I mo longer have interest in them, or I eat little and I am already bored once I could compare.
I have tasted jollof rice from the best with all the expertise and that made me realise how top notch my mother's version was. Fried rice, and some other meals from a good kitchen has sometimes ruined my taste and my memory in some foods because sometimes, too much ingredients tends to make some foods over hyped.
But not for once had beans and dodo lost that incredibility to a better plate. I have never had it from anyone's mouth or someone saying this is better than what I grew up on.
And this is what actual loyalty is for me. Not biase or sentiment of trying to gatekeep a weaker memory. For me, beans and dodo is a food that keeps winning without advertisement on it own terms, meals after meals, side by side, edge to edge, comparison after comparison without forcing me to look away from anything.
There are something things that we humans stay loyal to just because we have no ability to afford to examine them upfront or very close. But you see this one, I have done all and it is still a win for me any day, and any given moment.
Thank you for reading.
Images created by Gemini AI
