Warq Sona (Small) ورق سونا

Description

Warq Sona at sknatural is thin foil of gold or gold foil. Vark (also known as varak, waraq, or warq) is a delicate filigree foil sheet made of pure metal, usually silver but sometimes gold, utilized for adorning South Asian sweets and food. Both silver and gold vark are edible, albeit lacking in flavor. These ultra-thin gold sheets are usually interleaved between layers of paper for added support, which is removed before use. However, vark is fragile and prone to breaking into smaller pieces upon direct contact with the skin.

Sheets as thin as 0.2 μm have a tendency to adhere to the skin upon direct handling.People delicately place or roll vark sheets over various South Asian sweets, confectionery items, dry fruits, and spices. Additionally, they frequently place them atop mounds of saffron rice served on platters.

The process of goldbeating involves hammering gold into thin sheets, typically around 0.1 µm thick, resulting in gold leaf primarily used for gilding purposes.

While gold leaf falls under the category of metal leaf, the term “metal leaf” is usually not used when specifically referring to gold leaf. Instead, it typically denotes thin sheets of metal of any color lacking real gold content. Gold leaf comes in various karats and hues, while people mostly use 22-karat yellow gold  commonly. Pure gold, at 24 karats, is the highest quality. Authentic yellow gold leaf is approximately 91.7% pure, equivalent to 22-karat gold.

Among the different techniques of gold leafing, traditional water gilding stands out as the most challenging and esteemed method. This ancient technique, which has undergone minimal changes over centuries, remains a manual process, highly regarded for its intricacy and craftsmanship.

Temperament:

It has mild temperament inclined towards hotness.

Other names:

Arabic name: Zaheb

Persian name: Zar

Sindhi name: Son

Gujrati name: Sonu

Uses:

Physicians add warq sona in preparation to treat atrabilous diseases. Occasionally, people use gold leaf, as well as other metal leaf varieties like vark, to decorate food and beverages, often with the intention of conveying a sense of opulence and prestige. Despite its incorporation into culinary decorations, it retains its tastelessness.

Chefs can find this decorative element in desserts and confectionery items, such as chocolates, honey, and mithai. Particularly in India, chefs utilize it as an effective garnish, placing delicate sheets atop main dishes, especially during festive celebrations. When chefs incorporate gold into food, regulatory authorities assign it the E-number E175.

In the past, people used warm warq sona as a method to extract mercury from the flesh and skin. Moreover, in treating sore eyes, an ancient remedy included heating a gold ring until it became red hot, then using it to touch the inside of the upper and lower eyelids several times throughout the day.