The journey of ingredients between two worlds—Italy and America—and the way their encounter has transformed gastronomy is at the heart of *The Great Exchange*, which will feature a dinner event on October 13 at TOG Bistrot in Milan with Chef Carlo Cracco, where Prosecco DOC serves as an ambassador for “Made in Italy” and the cuisine embodies the dialogue between cultures.
Milan, October 14, 2026 – There is a journey that continues to this day, spanning dining tables, cultures, and traditions. It is the journey of ingredients from the Americas that, over the centuries, have crossed the ocean and encountered European cuisine, transforming recipes, customs, and traditions and becoming pillars of Italian cuisine: from tomatoes to corn, from potatoes to cocoa, all the way to bell peppers and vanilla.
These ingredients, once they arrived in new lands, did not simply get added to what already existed but entered into a dialogue with local techniques, ingredients, and customs. It is from this encounter that a part of Italian cuisine we now consider traditional was born: a heritage built over time through exchanges, influences, and reinterpretations.
This is the heart of “The Great Exchange – A Culinary Journey Between Two Worlds,” a project by the Maestro Martino Food Academy, promoted by the Maestro Martino Association chaired by Chef Carlo Cracco, who will be working alongside Lorenzo Di Pace, Resident Chef at TOG Bistrot, for this occasion, in collaboration with the Prosecco DOC Protection Consortium.
A narrative that weaves together history, culture, and the contemporary, demonstrating how cuisine has always been one of the most effective languages for fostering encounters between peoples, ideas, and traditions. Because every ingredient carries with it a region, a story, and a way of being used, but it is when it encounters a different culture that it can take on new meanings.
“Cuisine is one of the most dynamic cultural heritages we possess: it evolves, transforms, and grows thanks to encounters between different people and cultures,” says Chef Carlo Cracco, president of the Maestro Martino Association. “Telling the story of ingredients’ journey also means telling the story of our gastronomic identity and the value of cultural exchange that continues to this day.”
Prosecco DOC — a product deeply rooted in the Italian terroir and now known and appreciated internationally—will embody this ongoing dialogue between identity and openness to the world. As the star of the pairings dedicated to the ingredients at the heart of the project, Prosecco DOC plays a role that extends beyond the glass: that of an ambassador for “Made in Italy” and an expression of an Italian style capable of engaging with diverse cultures and traditions.
“Prosecco DOC originates in a specific region, but has always looked out at the world with curiosity and openness. Supporting The Great Exchange means showcasing an Italy that isn’t afraid of comparison: at the table, as in the glass, identity is strengthened when it engages with other cultures. – comments Giancarlo Guidolin, President of the Prosecco DOC Protection Consortium – For the past six years, we have been the official sparkling wine of the Maestro Martino Food Academy, and we are delighted to stand alongside Chef Cracco for an evening event at TOG Bistrot, where a passion for cooking meets the training of young people and a focus on the children and teens supported by the TOG Foundation. For us, this is a concrete way to promote ‘Made in Italy,’ including through our commitment to the community.”
The theme of “The Great Exchange” will take shape through a dinner at TOG Bistrot in Milan, the Maestro Martino Food Academy’s socially responsible restaurant. From the great ingredients that have traveled across continents to the combinations we find on our tables today, this dinner tells the story of a cuisine that has never stood still: a cuisine capable of embracing, transforming, and making new elements its own, to the point of making them part of its identity.
With “The Great Exchange,” the Maestro Martino Food Academy renews its commitment to promoting Italian gastronomic culture as a tool for education, outreach, and dialogue among peoples, through a narrative that begins with ingredients and extends to the people, regions, and cultures that brought them together.
