Virgilio Martínez, one of the best chefs in the world, is detained at an airport to carry 40 piranhas in the suitcase – 05/09/2019

Virgilio Martínez, one of the most famous chefs in the world and referring to the boom of Peruvian cuisine, has been held several hours at the Los Angeles International Airport to carry 40 piranhas in your luggage

Martínez is the owner of Central in Lima, Peru, with his wife, also a cook, Pía León. The restaurant is considered the 5th best in the world by the influential ranking The World's 50 Best and the 2nd in Latin America. The chef told the Los Angeles Times that he wanted to serve the carnivorous and edgy fish at two restaurants in Los Angeles, Somni and Vespertine during the Food Bowl Food Festival.

Martinez told the Los Angeles Times that when the customs staff opened the suitcases and saw the frozen and sealed piranhas, he had "panicked". "What's inside?" They asked him. "Bones and meat"replied the cook, laughing.

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But US customs officials did not like the joke and took him to a room where more officers participated in the interrogation. Martinez tried to explain that he was wearing piranhas because they are served in his country and that people "have preconceived ideas about piranhas by moviesbut we catch them. "

Virgilio was held for five hours, interrogation time, where he even showed them pictures and books to convince them. Eventually, they left him with his piranhas, which he used for a salad that night. The next day, he dried the skins of piranha and served them in the head.

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The exchanges between the cooks are very common in this moment of gastronomy so globalized, and it is usual that the most recognized chefs of a country to travel to another to display their dishes and products. But it is also common to bring the food that they will use in their bags, which is a problem at airports. But in some cases, the material ends grasped, as was the case with another famous Peruvian chef who had come to dinner in a prestigious restaurant in Buenos Aires and who, through customs, had to change menus at the last minute.

AS