Wheat Marketing Center helps Algerian Agricultural Engineers Build Better Baguettes

Wheat Marketing Center helps Algerian Agricultural Engineers Build Better Baguettes

Portland, OR (June 30, 2003) Two agricultural engineers from the Algerian Agricultural Ministry Office of Cereals, Ms. Malika Aknine and Ms. Samia Mokraoui, spent the week at the Wheat Marketing Center (WMC) studying American techniques and protocols for wheat grading, classification, and evaluation systems, including finished products.

This weeklong course was initiated by the Cochran Fellowship, an exchange program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in concert with U.S. Wheat Associates. The program is designed to enhance relationships and increase knowledge of U.S. wheat varieties. The information gained in this course will be passed along to the Algerian wheat industry as well as government officials.

The course began with an Orientation to American Culture presented by cross-cultural consultant Pamela Causgrove to facilitate the team's learning in an American laboratory. After this, the two engineers met with international bakery consultant and course director Dan Ettling to begin test baking and to observe process techniques they will pass along to millers and bakers in Algeria.

As part of the course, the Algerian team visited three of Portland's most renowned artisan bakeries: Grand Central Baking Company, Delphina's Bakery, and Pearl Bakery. The visit to Grand Central was arranged by manager Mike Moran, who has been involved in other WMC projects over the past two years. He is a member of the Bread Bakers Guild that promotes artisan baking. The visit to Delphina's and Pearl bakeries was arranged by owner Greg Mistell, who was a member of the winning U.S. baking team at The Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie 1999 competition in Paris, France.

At these bakeries, Ms. Aknine and Ms. Mokraoui learned dough preparation processes, production techniques, and test baking protocols to improve production, chiefly for the long loaves of breakfast Baguettes that are so popular in Algeria. In addition, the agricultural engineers introduced the WMC staff to other Algerian breads, such as flat bread and a bread similar to a large English muffin.

This portion of the course fit engineer Malika Aknine especially well, she reported, because "the information, processes, preparation, and baking technology parallel my duties at home."

Another course session featured USDA's Federal Grain Inspection Service, with Regional Manager Walt Rust and Jerry Kusek, Portland, sharing U.S. wheat grading protocols, evaluation, and classification, along with falling number device demonstrations, and vomitoxin and protein determination. The Algerian Team also learned how to spot defects, which is right in line with the duties of engineer Samia Mokraoui. "My office accomplishes the very same tasks, and it is most worthwhile to compare techniques with U.S. counterparts," she said.

To conclude the course, Ms. Aknine and Ms. Mokraoui met with Oregon Wheat Commission Administrator Tana Simpson and Shannon Schlecht of U.S. Wheat/Portland. They also traveled to a wheat farm near The Dalles, Oregon, where wheat farmer and Oregon Wheat Commission member Mike Kortge and his wife Cathie prepared an American barbecue for the team. A visit to a river elevator and a barge loading facility rounded out the excursion.

As agricultural engineers in Algeria, Ms. Aknine and Ms. Mokraoui make recommendations to their government regarding wheat purchases. Algeria currently buys one million metric tons of wheat annually from Argentina, Canada, France, and the United States. As a result of the course, the Algerian team experienced American culture as friendly and welcoming, opening the door to better communication and business relationships.

Competition for the Cochran Fellowship program is high. Only two of the 30 applicants for the Cochran Fellowship program were chosen. The screening/selection process includes a background check, a review of technical expertise, company/department evaluation, governmental and embassy interviews, and an assessment of applicants' command of English.

"We are most pleased to be able to reach out to include new teams from different cultures in Wheat Marketing Center technical courses. This is the first time an Algerian team has studied at WMC, and we are delighted to have two such highly competent engineers from Algeria," said WMC Executive Director David Shelton.

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