That often happens to tourists looking for a restaurant after a long day of visiting museums.

ANTOINETTE MAZZAGLIA: "They're starving and they get a really bad sandwich in one of those little tourist trap places that has everything. If a place has panini, gelato, waffles – which, by the way, not Italian - and pizza -- there's a place like that right near the Uffizi -- it's probably going to be really bad. Because if you have time to make all that, you really didn't make it yourself."

Ms. Mazzaglia -- who speaks Italian -- takes people on guided visits of markets and specialty shops. They taste the so-called poor man's food based on beans, vegetables and wild game meats.

On this day, she leads a group of six Americans.

ANTOINETTE MAZZAGLIA: "Go ahead and start eating them. The one that is a little slightly more yellow, that's what they call crema. That has the egg yolk. The other one is fior di latte -- it’s just milk, cream and sugar."

They try foods like Tuscan cheeses, meats and oils. Pennie DiMartino is from Long Island, New York. She came to Italy to eat food that her husband -- who is half-Italian -- does not know how to make. She tries some gelato, a frozen treat, with an eight-year-old balsamic vinegar poured on top.

PENNIE DiMARTINO: "It almost tastes like liquor, like if you put rum on ice cream. But better. It doesn't have a liquor aftertaste."

William Moore is a frequent traveler. He loves the art of Florence and Italy, but also enjoys studying the food.