Photo Courtesy of joshunter on Flickr

Depending on which way you look at it, the weekend of both Bonnaroo and the Country Music Association Festival is either the worst or greatest time for an unsuspecting tourist to visit Nashville. Both of these titanic music festivals draw thousands of fans to Tennessee to get wild for the weekend — and I was their unsuspecting victim, somehow not knowing about either in advance.

While Bonnaroo is out in Manchester, CMA-Fest proudly takes over the city’s center. It is impossible to sleep, eat, drink, or read a newspaper downtown without noticing the revelers. So as a fair-weather country music fan at best, I opted to avoid the crowds and stick to Nashville’s more peripheral neighborhoods. That meant missing the Ryman and the Opry and many of those institutions that would likely make it onto any must-see list. Nonetheless, I still discovered a whole lot of soul. And the biggest crowd I encountered was the line for the city’s most popular popsicles.

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Pappa al Pomodoro - Photo courtesy of Marc Matsumoto

Every great culture has its culinary landmarks, those foods that lay out the gastronomic landscape of a nation. But are these the bread and butter of a country’s epicurean legacy? Or are they just footprints along a greater journey that food takes over time? Being an unapologetic travel junkie and food lover, I often ponder such questions, both on my jaunts abroad as well as in my own kitchen as I prepare dishes from around the globe. It’s a fun, tasty way to explore new places and rediscover the foods and places you love.

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