An unlikely baking candidate is in the kitchen of St. Sarkis Church’s kitchen surrounded by rising dough, flour, and melted butter. Detroit native Thomas Poladian has invaded the thus far all- female Ladies Guild territory, bent on learning the fine art of rolling out that delicious flaky concoction known to Armenians worldwide as katah. And they have welcomed him with open arms.
No one could be prouder of Tom than Ladies Guild president Rose Kehetian, who drew Poladian to my attention, praising him Hye-ly for his desire to help the dedicated group that meets once a week baking and filling freezers to raise funds for the church at bake sales and the annual fall bazaar. “He calls me Auntie Rose and he is really interested in our Armenian baking,” says Rose. “He’s also inquiring about Armenian cookbooks and wants to make all the Armenian geragours too. God bless him, he is interested in everything Armenian. He is so pleasant and plus he is an airline pilot.”
The ladies look at him with admiration, impressed with this good looking 46-year-old single man. They are happy to share their aromatic domain, where long thin dowels are deftly used for opening those ever-widening circles of dough—ultimately buttered and braided into circles then baked to perfection, becoming the perfect flavorful accompaniment to coffee, cheese, and olives. It’s an Armenian mainstay few take time to master nowadays.
So who is this Tom Poladian? He is the son of Andrew (a Keghetsi) and Alis (Sepastasi) Poladian. He is a Dearborn High School graduate who went on to attend Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Fla, earning a bachelor’s in aeronautical science. He is a corporate pilot and freight pilot aspiring to one day fly for FedEx. He is still flight instructing to stay current and took part of the test for an FAA flight engineer rating.
He has been a life-long member of the St. Sarkis congregation and was a member of the Armenian Youth Federation (AYF), attending Camp Haiastan for four years straight as a teen.
Tom is also pursuing a master’s degree in education at Wayne State University while working as a flight instructor, and during the school year he substitute teaches science at middle school and high school in Garden City and Taylor, Mich.
He works out in the gym three to four days a week and along with his dad Andy is restoring a 1929 Ford Model A. “It’s fun and we’re constantly bickering about what we need to do on it and what level of restoration we’re going to bring it up to,” Tom tells me.
“The ladies are all great and it’s a privilege to work with them. I started learning with them late last year. They took me into their confidence and now I know how to make several things, but they swore me to secrecy. The food we all enjoy so much is very labor intensive and is worth every cent they sell if for at the sales.”
He says, “I first got hooked on Armenian food when I was about 12 years old. My folks would have choreg, katah, basterma, and lahmajoun set out for the holidays. Learning to make Armenian food is something I’ve been meaning to do for a long time and I am thankful I have so many talented women to teach me. It’s an extremely efficient operation, each lady has her own area of expertise. It’s a well-orchestrated operation and besides that, we all have fun while working together.”
Rolling out the dough is an art in itself, states Poladian. He may be used to a pilot’s stick but the long thin dowel used for rolling out the katah dough takes a while to master. The accompanying photo proves that a picture is worth a thousand words. Sporting that wide grin is Tom, now the expert roller.
He has high respect and praise for his two mentors Deegeen Oghi Mooradian, 97, and Deegeen Keghouhi Derhovagimian, 96. Tom says he is learning from the best and insisted his picture be with his mentors, both survivors of the Armenian Genocide. Look at their lovely faces closely.
Update from Tom: “Today we baked a few hundred choregs. They looked and smelled great coming out of the ovens. Tomorrow the katah baking continues. A few hundred are already in the freezer. Rose says my internship is going great, and my probationary period is almost over. The women say we should open up an Armenian bakery in Dearborn. Not a bad idea.”
I won’t even pose Tom the question: Which was easier, getting a bachelor’s in science from a prestigious flying university touted by U.S. News & World Report as having the best Aerospace engineering program in the nation for 10 years straight, or pleasing a group of fussy Armenian women known as the St. Sarkis Ladies Guild?
Tom Poladian is a true son of Armenia. Credit must be given to both him and his parents for instilling in him the spirit of Ararat. Get one of those delicious katahs at the next St. Sarkis bazaar and you may just take flight yourself. Armenian katahs, after all, are heavenly.
Betty Apigian-Kessel
Latest posts by Betty Apigian-Kessel (see all)
- Meet the Legendary Margaret Lafian of Detroit - October 3, 2017
- The Lament of the Armenian Lady Farmer: How Green Is My ‘Bardez’ - September 22, 2017
- A Purposeful Visit to Great Lakes National Cemetery (Part II) - August 8, 2017
Be the first to comment