Vark
Indian Subcontinent | |
Region or state | South Asia |
---|---|
Main ingredients | Silver, Gold |
Vark (also varak Waraq or warq) is a fine
Vark sheets are laid or rolled over some South Asian sweets, confectionery, dry fruits and spices.[3][4] It is also placed onto mounds of saffron rice on platters.[4][5][6]
For safety and ethical reasons, the Government of India has issued food safety and product standards guidelines for manufacturers of silver foil.[7]
History
Etymology
Varaka means cloth, cloak or a thing that covers something else. Vark is sometimes spelled Varaq, varq, vark, varkh, varakh, varkha, or waraq (
waraq), means a sheet, leaf or foil.Product
Manufacturing
Vark is made by placing the pure metal dust between parchment sheets, then pounding the sheets until the metal dust molds into a foil,[5] usually less than one micrometre (μm) thick, typically 0.2–0.8 μm. The sheets are typically packed with paper for support; this paper is peeled away before use.[1] it generally takes 2 hours to pound the silver particles into foils.[8]
Particles were traditionally manually pounded between the layers of ox gut or cow hide.[8] It is easier to separate the silver leaf from the animal tissue than to separate it from the paper. Due to the concerns of the vegetarian population of India, manufacturers have switched to the modern technologies that have evolved for the production of silver leaves in India, Germany, Russia and China.[1] Modern technologies include beating over sheets of black special treated paper or polyester sheets coated with food grade calcium powder (nicknamed "German plastic") are used instead of ox-guts or cow hide.[8] Old City in Hyderabad used to be the hub of traditional manual manufacturing, where it is a dying trade.[8]
Usage as food
The silver is edible, though flavourless. It is also commonly used in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh as coating on sweets, dry fruits, and in sugar balls, betel nuts, cardamom, and other spices.[4] Estimated consumption of vark is 275 tons annually.
Using edible silver and gold foils on sweets, confectionery and desserts is not unique to the Indian subcontinent; other regions such as Japan and Europe have also been using precious metal foils as food cover and decoration, including specialty drinks such as
Vegetarian ethical issues
Concerns have been raised about the ethical acceptability
Safety
Gold and silver are approved food foils in the European Union, as E175 and E174 additives respectively. The independent European food-safety certification agency, TÜV Rheinland, has deemed gold leaf safe for consumption. Gold and silver leaf are also certified as
One study has found that about 10% of 178 foils studied from the
See also
References
- ^ a b c Gold in Gastronomy Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine deLafee, Switzerland (2008)
- ^ Madhu Gadia, 2000, New Indian Home Cooking: More Than 100 Delicious Nutritional, and Easy Low-fat recipes Archived 2023-10-25 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ DK, 2017, The Periodic Table Book: A Visual Encyclopedia of the Elements Archived 2023-10-25 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ a b c Vijaya Ghose, Jaya Ramanathan, and Renuka N. Khandekar, 1992, Tirtha, the Treasury of Indian Expressions Archived 2023-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, Page 61.
- ^ a b Maya Tiwari, 2005, Ayurveda: A Life of Balance : the Complete Guide to Ayurvedic Archived 2023-10-25 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ 1989, The Illustrated Weekly of India Archived 2023-10-25 at the Wayback Machine, Volume 110, Issues 36-44 - Page 39.
- ^ a b c d e Govt slogs its guts out for ‘vegetarian’ chandi ka vark Archived 2018-01-08 at the Wayback Machine, Daily Pioneer, 8 June 2016.
- ^ a b c d e ‘Chandi ka Warq’ business may become history soon Archived 2018-02-14 at the Wayback Machine, The Economic Times, 8 Jan 2018.
- ^ a b c Thanwardas Lilaram Vaswani, 1992, East and West Series Archived 2020-02-16 at the Wayback Machine, Issues 412-423, Page 10.
- ^ "Eight-in-ten Indians limit meat in their diets, and four-in-ten consider themselves vegetarian". Archived from the original on 2021-08-11. Retrieved 2021-08-11.
- ^ Conspicuous Consumption Archived 2018-12-22 at the Wayback Machine L.V. Anderson, Slate (July 16, 2012)
- ^ Public Health Statement for Silver Archived 2013-11-15 at archive.today ATSDR-CDC, US Government (December 1990)
- ^ Sarvate, Sarita (4 April 2005). "Silver Coating". India Currents. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 2009-07-05.
- S2CID 23931597.
- ^ Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry Archived 2016-02-09 at the Wayback Machine, See toxicity, food and exposure papers on nickel, lead, copper, chromium, cadmium and manganese.