Only in Spain, Vol. 1

With this post, I inaugurate a randomly occurring series describing peculiarities that amuse and amaze me about my adopted country, and, I hope, will tickle your fancy as well. In this issue:

1. Bimbo (yes, Bimbo): a brand of loaf bread (pan molde or "molded bread") sold in supermarkets, that you can buy with the crusts already removed (sin corteza).

2. Yes, Mr. Clean is sold in Spain, but here, he is addressed as Don Limpio. No information as to the nomenclature applied to the White Tornado.

3. The butchers of Spain. Have I mentioned the butchers? They seem to be primarily female, and sister, can they wield the knife. Today I bought a boneless, skinless chicken breast and asked for it to be sliced (en lonchas). She proceeded to slice the meat: not vertically, but horizontally, into four incredibly thin, even layers. Ai caramba!

4. Forget Nestle's Quick. Hot chocolate in Spain is practically chocolate pudding. You can almost stand a spoon up in it - in fact, you have to eat it with a spoon - and it's bittersweet. Best scooped up, though, with a churro, an elongated, sugared fried dough. Yummmmmmm.