Canned pink salmon bound with egg, onion, and cornmeal, fried into golden patties. The shelf-stable Migration protein — Friday fish and weekday breakfast in a kitchenette where fresh coastal fish was a memory.
When Migration families left the coast and the rivers behind for the industrial North, canned salmon became their fish. Cheap, shelf-stable in a kitchenette with little refrigeration, and respectable for Friday's no-meat tradition, salmon croquettes fed generations for breakfast over grits or for supper. It is a dish almost every Black family with Northern roots remembers from a grandmother's stove.
Canned salmon with the soft bones mashed in is a rare non-dairy calcium source — vital given high lactose intolerance among Black Americans — and delivers omega-3s, vitamin D, and B12. The omega-3s lower triglycerides and blood pressure; the vitamin D addresses the deficiency northern winters deepen in Black bodies. This is one of the most nutrient-dense cheap proteins in the Migration pantry.
Drain canned salmon, keep the soft bones and mash them in for calcium, mix with beaten egg, minced onion, a little cornmeal or cracker meal, and black pepper. Form patties and pan-fry until golden, about 3 minutes a side.
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