Some people love their jobs. Some people hate them. Then there’s 38-year-old mother of two Paula Noukas. “I’m living the dream,” she jokes. “I get perfect strangers from all around the world to sit down and eat together.” Her job: Giving food-and-history tours of Boston’s North End, the famous and picturesque Little Italy that is also home to the Old North Church.

Her tours, named “Off The Eaten Path,” combine a physical visit to the neighborhood with a metaphorical tour of Italy. And plenty of food — including not just pizza, arancini and cannoli, but Italian olive oils, cheeses, wines, and an aged Italian balsamic vinegar that tastes absolutely nothing like any balsamic vinegar you’ve ever tasted, and which you could probably drink on its own.