Haute cuisine: Edible gold is the hot luxury food trend

Not content with wearing gold, the well-heeled are now eating it

From burgers specked with gold leaf, cocktails jazzed up with gold dust, to mithais layered with gold, the edible gold trend is now all over the global gourmet space.

The more than 50-year-old legendary sweet shop, Sri Venkateshwara Sweet-Meat Stall, Gandhi Bazaar, introduced Bengaluru to some of the most expensive sweets. Made with pistachio, almonds and saffron and wrapped with two layers of 24K gold leaf, these mithais created quite a stir in the market. Their gold-wrapped sweets come for a whopping price tag of Rs 23,300 per kg.

A burger topped with gold leaf from Louis Burger. Credit: Deepa Shri Rajan

Recently burgers topped with gold leaf from the burger brand "Louis Burger," went viral. Their "Truffletake" is stacked with premium ingredients like shimeji, shitake and enoki mushrooms, truffle mayo, truffle slices, truffle oil, English Cheddar cheese and 24k edible gold leaf. This premium burger with gold varq is priced at Rs 888; their regular burgers cost between Rs 300-400.

"Gold is the ultimate in desirability, and its use makes for a truly luxurious experience," said restaurateur Zorawar Kalra who owns Louis Burger. "We eat with our eyes first, and the gold leaf adds to the visual appeal. The idea behind curating these premium burgers is to make people feel royal and have a fine-dine experience in the comfort of their homes."

Chennai's Goldman's Steakhouse has also been making a "golden cheesy chicken patty" that is deep-fried, covered with 24k edible gold leaf, and priced at Rs 999.

While gold leaf lends opulence to any food it is added to, the question arises whether it has any health benefits or enhances the taste.

"In Ayurveda, 'swarna' (gold) is used in a lot of medicines, lehyams (syrups) and tonics in the form of gold dust or gold flakes. It boosts health in children and adults, improves cognitive skills and longevity, and even gives you a fair complexion," said Dr Manju Raj, an Ayurvedic doctor and professor.

When asked about the usage of gold in food, she said, "Gold attains its benefits when added with particular herbs or mediums. The gold that eaten must be of the purest form. Use only 22-24 karat gold. Gold leaf with a smaller karat value has more impurities and is less safe to eat. If you are careful and only add gold leaf, gold dust/flakes to your food that is clearly labelled as 'edible,' then eating gold leaf is harmless." However, Raj emphasises that since gold is inert and flavourless, it adds no special taste to food; all its appeal lies in its glitter.

(Deepa Shri Rajan is a food, travel and lifestyle blogger and Instagrammer based out of Bengaluru.)