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On and around Palermo’s Via della Libertàand Catania’s Via Etnea you can shop in Italy’s fashionable, classic stores for linens, clothing, shoes and handbags. Both boulevards offer a good mix of stores, boutiques and chic cafés.

Here you’ll find elegant jewellery on Taormina’s Corso. The proprietor makes each piece crafted to her own design, inspired by antique and historical motifs. Chunky necklaces of heavy gold with precious gems and rings set with antique incised stones are all unique items (see Le Colonne, Taormina)

Rosemarie Ferlito and Tomas Schuster work with local organic farmers and oil millers to procure the highest quality Sicilian ingredients for their sott’oli – foods preserved under Nocellara del Belice olive oil. Artichokes and aubergines (eggplants) are cooked in vinegar and packed under a layer of olive oil. Sundried tomatoes are chopped fine and mixed with anchovies and pecorino cheese to make cappuliato . And it takes a total of four days to make Corali di Sicilia – small hot peppers stuffed with capers and anchovies. Their hand-made products are of the maximum quality and flavour.

An excellent selection of Sicilian, Italian and international wines are for sale in this wonderful Palermo enoteca , and there’s an area devoted to wine-tasting. Although wine is the focus, there are a few carefully selected food items as well, such as olive oil, pasta, honey and marmalade. If you want to relax and enjoy a glass or a bottle, visit their wine bar and restaurant near Piazza San Francesco d’Assisi (see Mi Manda Picone).

In her small studio, showroom and boutique on the island of Ortygia, designer Helene Moreau paints abstract watercolour designs onto silk. The resulting fabric is then made up into beautiful and highly unique scarves and dresses.

Brightly coloured ceramics with designs of jolly peasant farmers and fishermen going about their daily tasks (see De Simone).

Alongside shops selling Sciacca’s traditional green, yellow and blue ceramic dishes, the Soldano family produces traditional ceramics and modern designs on tableware and tiles.

In a courtyard off the piazza Silva Ceramica produces imitations of antique designs, including tiles.

Altieri produces ceramics in traditional styles as well as their own innovative designs. There are also pieces in gold, silver and coral in the decorative arts tradition of Trapani (see Altieri 1882, Erice).

Pina Parisi weaves cotton and wool rugs in traditional bright colours and geometric patterns as well as wall hangings of local village and countryside scenes (see Pina Parisi Tappeti, Erice).