One of the most famous chefs in the world was held in an American airport: he was carrying 40 piranhas.

A famous Peruvian chef was arrested several hours at the Los Angeles International Airport for carrying 40 piranhas in a bag for an exclusive dinner.

Virgilio Martínez is the chef and owner of the central restaurant in Peru, which in 2018 place 6 of the best gourmet restaurants in the world, according to the list of the world's top 50. The leader appeared in the third season of the Netflix show "Chef's Table".

When he landed in Los Angeles for a gourmet festival, airport authorities detected something suspicious in his luggage. "What's in it?", they asked him.

According to the newspaper Los Angeles Times, the chef tried to amuse the situation, but it was not the best idea. "Bones and skin"he has answered.

Therefore, customs officers they took him to an interrogation room, where they found the piranhas frozen and vacuum packed. The sharp teeth of South American fish make a remarkable impression.

"I will do a special dinner with a friend that I respect a lot and I will prepare a dish that I will appreciate"He explained, although he has international prestige, It took five hours to convince the authorities, who finally dropped with their unusual merchandise.

"I told them that I was honest and I showed them pictures"Martinez said Time. "I took one of my books and said," Look, that's what I want to do with the piranhas. "

The delay caused the chef to miss a dinner organized in the luxury restaurant Vespertine. However, the next night he used piranhas for a salad in this place and in another day Dried the skins to serve them inside the heads Fish in Somni.

"I spent five hours late by you, so you better appreciate them"joked the guests.

Martinez explained to Time why he decided to bring such an exotic ingredient. "I bet the majority here has never tried the piranhas, I was obsessed with bringing them because we used them in Central, and I said:" Boys, why do not we risk taking them to Los Angeles? "

In addition, He claimed that his intention was to change prejudices about the species, feared for his voracity described in several Hollywood productions.