Breakfast Picnic Gokotta Style: A Swedish Breakfast

How to do a breakfast picnic the Swedish way!

I first heard about the word ‘gokotta’ when I was reading a Mary Jane’s Farm magazine several years ago.

It is of Swedish origin and there is no English substitute for it. The word means ‘rising at dawn to go out and hear the birds sing’ or an ‘at dawn picnic’.

This word resonated with every nature loving, picnic eating, early rising bone in my body! I ripped out the page of the magazine and filed it away in my binder where I keep things that inspire me. [This ranges from DIY to travel, to natural living and everything in between.]

How awesome is a word especially used just to describe going out to hear the birds sing in the morning! The Swedes have got it right y’all. It’s enough to make me want to pack my bags and move there. What better way to start your day than a good dose of nature and bird singing? It’s no wonder Sweden ranks as one of the top ten happiest countries in the world!

I knew I had to do a early morning picnic

This summer, I finally got around to having an at dawn picnic and talked my sister into rolling out of bed at the first crack of light to enjoy it with me!

What Swedes eat for breakfast

Since gokotta is a Swedish word, I wanted my picnic to be what is normally eaten for breakfast in that country. I was expecting smoked fish and pastries! But when I started researching online, apparently Swedish people don’t do a lot of fish or sweets at the first meal of the day.

No Swedish pancakes either!

Open faced sandwiches are where it’s at!

I discovered that open-faced sandwiches are popular there, with toppings like cold cuts, cheeses, and veggies such as tomatoes, cucumbers and bell peppers. The Swedes make these sandwiches on plain or crisp bread, so I went with rye Wasa crackers for a Trim Healthy Mama option.

For toppings, I brought lean ham, sliced boiled eggs, smoked herring [because I like it even if its not the normal Swedish thing lol], and sliced cucumbers and tomatoes. I also brought some raw milk cheese along.

Apparently a paste made from fish roe is a popular condiment for on the boiled eggs, but I couldn’t find any. [Or maybe I just purposely didn’t look very hard..…] If fish eggs are your thing, go for it!!

Easy spread for on the crackers:

I couldn’t discover if the Swedish people use any condiments on their sandwiches, but I felt like we needed one. I made a simple spread of mayonnaise with lemon and juice and Dijon.

The mustard and lemon add brightness to the stronger taste of smoked fish.

Cereal, anyone?

Oatmeal topped with berries or muesli swirled into yogurt are also on the menu at Scandinavian breakfasts. I sweetened up 0% Greek yogurt with a few simple ingredients and brought along fresh berries, coconut, pumpkin seeds and raw oats with raisins for a DIY muesli/yogurt bowl platter. Oh, and fresh mint because why not?

Last but not least

Don’t forget a pot of strong coffee! That’s the way the Swedes like it! in fact, they are among the top five coffee drinking countries in the world. [coffee, picnics, happy people…..you can find me packing my suitcase after I finish this post…]

We had a thermos of coffee to keep it warm, and brought along cute pottery mugs and heavy cream to splash in it.

Gokotta breakfasts are amazing

I’m so glad I finally got around to doing a gokotta picnic! It was so much fun to set up and try out a different breakfast style. I could eat foods like this for my first meal of the day on a regular basis! I encourage you to give it a try and let me know in the comments if you do. Make sure to let me know if you try the fish roe spread lol.

Here’s the formula for a gokotta picnic

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