Edible gold leaf ◆

Feuille d’or alimentaire

What it is

A gram of gold beats out to roughly half a square metre, a tenth of a micron thick, between sheets of goldbeater's skin - ox intestine, so airtight that Zeppelin gas cells were built from it in the First World War. Gold passes through the body unchanged and tastes of nothing at all; the EU lists it as E175.

In the kitchen

Never touch it with a finger - the moisture takes it instantly. Lift it on a dry sable brush or a knife blade, lay it on last of all, after every glaze and every liquid, and anchor it with a breath of moisture rather than a wet surface.

Goes with

Dark chocolate White chocolate Praline paste Vanilla Raspberry Saffron Caviar Foie gras

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