[Daub]

I sometimes work with gold foil. Specifically I used to repare old picture frames with gesso and gold leaf. There is a myth that the value of gold carries over into the value of gold leaf. In Asia, you can buy sake with gold leaf flecks suspended in it, and it is cheap enough to sell in corner shops. One ounce of gold can be beaten out into a sheet of gold leaf approximately the size of a football pitch. The major problem with the stuff is how difficult it is to handle. Effectively the only way to move it is using the static electricity of big fluffy brushes.

[riffraff]

I recall gold flake vodka sold in random shops in Budapest years ago too, but it was considered a premium product.

Gold leaf is stupid cheap, but it still carries a "valuable" aura.

When Gualtiero Marchesi, the most influential Italian chef of last century, used gold leaf with saffron risotto he made it to play with colors and presentation, but most likely he also aimed at making it feel more "precious".

We're all creatures of irrationality.

[lm28469]

Yes it's ridiculously thin, under 0.5µm. Platted jewelry isn't too far either, sometimes just 1 or 2µm

That being said I doubt they had the technology back then, it might be thin but not µm thin

[PeterisP]

What technology? The main technology needed to work gold leaf is a smelter to pour the initial shape, and after that you don't need any weird materials or machines, it is just skilled and careful hammering. Going thinner doesn't require a different technology, it requires a more skilled goldbeater, even noways sub-µm gold leaf is routinely done with traditional methods.

[kadoban]

They wouldn't have had electroplating, but yeah you don't need that if you're okay with just spending a lot of time and care on it instead.

[nkurz]

Why do think they weren't able to get it that thin? What "technology" are you referring to? Here's Wikipedia's summary:

"5,000 years ago, Egyptian artisans recognized the extraordinary durability and malleability of gold and became the first goldbeaters and gilders. They pounded gold using a round stone to create the thinnest leaf possible. Except for the introduction of a cast-iron hammer and a few other innovations, the tools and techniques have remained virtually unchanged for thousands of years."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gold_leaf

[throwaway2990]

It comes on parchment paper and it’s easy to transfer. They sell it to you in Thailand to put on Buddha statues for good luck.

[thisisauserid]

I put it on desserts and on to of cocktails. Just make sure you're using 24K.

[olddustytrail]

It's cheaper to mix some lead in and your guests will never know the difference!

Well, not for a few decades anyway and they'll never trace it back to you...

[wood_spirit]

The drink Goldwasser has small sparkling flakes of 24k gold.

[autoexec]

Goldschläger (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldschläger) is another.