My mother introduced me to a sandwich loaf she liked to serve for afternoon company back in Cuba in the '50's. Bakeries (here and there) used to call this shape of bread (long, dense, even-sided, flat-topped) a "pullman loaf." My mother would ask for it unsliced. Then she sliced it into four even slices lengthwise (which was murder) and filled the bottom layer with a soft chicken/asparagus salad filling, the middle with an egg-salad filling, and the next layer with a deviled ham salad made with cream-cheese and a touch of strawberry jam. The top layer was then put on and all sides and top were frosted with cream cheese softened with a little milk. Then the sandwich loaf was chilled until ready to serve. (The fillings could be varied, but these were the ones that were used in Cuba where she first saw it and we've stuck to this trio. I do not recommend using tuna or any other type of fish as it seems to take over the more delicate fillings). When it was sliced and served, it was a very fancy and delicious layered sandwich. Now that my local bakeries don't even know what a "pullman loaf" is, I can start serving it again with my new Pain de Mie pan! Carmen, thanks so much for sharing. Pain de mie is the French version of Pullman - they're exactly the same thing. And I've always wanted to try the recipe you describe, which goes back to the '40s-'50s, or maybe even earlier. I've seen it in cookbooks of that era. So now I think you've given me the inspiraiton to finally make it! Thanks so much - PJH

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