lorax

Well, it's fish. The texture is creamy rather than chewy like most catfish, with a light, delicate flavour. It doesn't scream FISH when you eat it. The ones I've eaten were about 4-5 inches long, and they get cooked whole. The armour comes off fairly easily - just grab a fin and pull, and then there are triangular chunks of white flesh veined with purple (looks kind of like Monkfish).

I've only ever had Pleco done the traditional Amazon Shuar way - wrapped in a banana leaf with taro and palm hearts and steamed over open flame. This is called a Maito, and it's fan-fugu-tastic.

At Christmas, some of my friends are taking me out giant-pleco hunting. This involves baiting a shark-hook on about 2km of stout rope with a small chicken, rowing into the middle of the Napo river (the Amazon's headwaters), tossing it in, and rowing like crap for shore. Then, when the fish bites, you've got good purchase for hauling it in. I've seen Pleco the size of dinner tables (ie 6-8 feet long) taken this way. If we manage to catch one, I'll take a picture. Then we'll wrap it in mud and build a fire around it. A Pleco that size will feed about 30 people.