Fish on Fridays: The Recipe That Reached Me Across Time

By Traci Phillips | Black By God – The West Virginian

I never met my grandmother. But I’ve met her through food — through the yellowed pages of the 1971 Ebenezer Baptist Church cookbook from Charleston’s West Side, where her name, Theora Choice, sits neatly above the words “Salmon Cakes.”

Every Friday, my mama still says, “Fish on Fridays.” It’s tradition — one she got from her mama, who got it from hers. Back then, they weren’t just feeding families; they were passing down medicine in the form of memory.

When I hold that old recipe — typed on a church typewriter, maybe between choir practices and homecomings — I realize it’s not just about salmon. It’s about survival and care. My grandmother’s salmon cakes call for milk, egg, onion, and green pepper — simple ingredients that stretched to feed a family. What she didn’t know, or maybe she did, is that those salmon bones she kept in the mix are rich in calcium and omega-3s. Today, doctors call that nutritional therapy. She just called it Friday.

Theora Choice’s Salmon Cakes (Ebenezer Baptist Church Cookbook, 1971)
Ingredients

• 1 large can salmon
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp. green pepper, finely chopped (optional)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 3 tbsp. shortening

Directions
Put salmon in a bowl, removing bones if desired. Beat egg; combine with milk, bread crumbs, onion, and other ingredients. Add to salmon and mix well. Shape into 6 cakes. Place in a skillet with melted shortening. Brown cakes well, turning once. Serve hot with tartar sauce or a simple salad.

Food as Medicine: Omega-3 fatty acids in salmon support heart and brain health, while the calcium in the soft bones strengthens joints and bones — especially vital for elders in Appalachian families.

That church cookbook was a form of community health care. Each recipe was a prescription for nourishment, comfort, and connection. Before hospitals talked about “food as medicine,” our churches and kitchens already practiced it.

“Fish on Fridays” wasn’t just a meal — it was a ministry. I may have never sat at my grandmother’s table, but every time I make her salmon cakes, I feel her presence — the smell of frying oil, the hum of gospel radio, the warmth of hands that fed a family and a faith community.

She’s still teaching me how to heal — one skillet at a time.