Appalachian Salmon Patties

Canned salmon stretched as far as possible. Mashed with leftover cornbread or stale breadcrumbs, formed into patties, and fried in bacon grease. Cold and firm by lunchtime — they wouldn’t fall apart, wouldn’t spoil, and delivered fish oil richness that bodies needed. The bones, mashed in with everything, provided calcium mountain diets lacked.

Ingredients

• 2 cans (14–15 oz each) pink salmon in water — bones, skin, and all, nothing wasted
• 1 cup leftover cornbread crumbled, or stale breadcrumbs
• 1 egg (if available)
• ¼ cup onion, finely chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Bacon grease for frying

Directions

1. Drain salmon but do not discard the liquid. Mash the salmon thoroughly, bones and skin included — the bones are soft enough to eat and provide calcium.
2. Mix mashed salmon with crumbled cornbread or breadcrumbs, egg, onion, salt, and pepper.
3. The mixture should hold together when pressed. If too wet, add more breadcrumbs. If too dry, add a little of the reserved salmon liquid.
4. Form into patties — silver dollar size for easy eating, or hamburger-sized for heartier lunches.
5. Heat bacon grease in a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Fry patties 3–4 minutes per side until both sides are deeply golden and crispy.
7. Cool completely before packing into lunch pail — cold and firm, they travel without falling apart.
8. Eat with hands, the crispy exterior giving way to the soft, fishy center.

Notes

These represented prosperity in a can — ocean fish making its way to landlocked hollows. Workers would eat them with their hands. The bones, mashed in with everything else, provided calcium that mountain diets often lacked. From the 1920s through the 1960s, salmon patties were a lunch staple in coal camps and farm households alike.