Vark



Vark, varak (Sanskrit:वरक), (Arabic:ورق), Silver Leaves (चाँदी का वर्क) or varaka is any foil composed of a pure metal, typically silver, sometimes gold, used for garnishing sweets in South Asian cuisine. The silver is edible, though flavorless. Varak is made by pounding silver into a sheet a few micrometres ( µ ) thick (0.2 micron to 0.8 micron ), and backed with paper for support; this paper is peeled away before use. It is extremely brittle and breaks into smaller pieces if touched 0.2 micron's extra thin leaves get stuck on hand and then it vanished due to excessively low thickness ( due to thickness close to inter-atomic distance ). Vark sheets are laid or rolled over some South Asian sweets. 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 long used precious metal foils as food cover and additive, including specialty drinks such as Danziger Goldwasser. Also there is a big quantity of usage in India as Coating of dry fruits ( like Almond, Cashew, Dates etc. ), along with this coating of sugar balls, betel nut, cardamom and other spices. Coated cardamom is present in market very commonly. Concerns have been raised about the safety and ethical acceptability of Vark, as not all of it is pure silver, nor hygienically prepared, and the foil nowadays commonly is beaten between layers of ox-gut because it is easier to separate the silver leaf from animal tissue than to separate it from paper. It is considerable that there is some technologies also evolved for silver leaves production i.e. generally in trend in Russia, German, China and India . Technologies like beating over sheets of Black special treated paper, Polyester sheets coated with food grade Calcium powder are used instead of Ox-guts . Estimated consumption of Varak is 275 tons ( according to BWC-Beauty without cruelty data ) annually . Hindu and Jain religion person concern much about veg or non veg . So it is really appreciating that market of India is turned and converted into veg processed silver leaves .