Chow Down Chicago: Good Eats from the Windy City

Light, fluffy Pullman bread hearkens back to the days of luxury travel on Chicago's Pullman railcars in the late 1800s and early 1900s, when the bread was a staple of the fine cuisine served in Pullman’s chandeliered dining cars. The Chicago-based Pullman company favored the use of a special rectangular bread pan with a sliding flat lid that was compact and easy to store on the train cars. Even though this type of pan was already being used in the baking world to make pain de mie sandwich bread, it became so closely associated with Pullman trains that it came to be known as the Pullman pan. Bread baked in this type of pan was ideal for use in Pullman kitchens because both the bread and the pans stacked well and made for an efficient use of space.  Bakers use the Pullman pan today to bake soft sandwich bread with an even crumb, a fine texture, and minimal crust.  The Pullman Palace Car Company was founded in 1867 by George Pullman with the goal of making train travel a more co...