As any private banker will tell you, the wealthy have become gold bugs. They are buying gold futures, gold bars, gold coins, just about anything made from the shiny stuff. It is the ultimate crisis bet: when the world is falling apart, gold will always retain value (that is the theory anyway).

The wealthy in Abu Dhabi have another way to enjoy gold: eating it. An article by Bradley Hope in the National says the Emirates Palace hotel served up five kilograms, or about 11 pounds, of edible gold to its dining guests in 2008. "That amounts to 5,000 one-gram bottles of gold leaf flakes from a German distributor, which each go for about $100," the article states. The edible-gold budget for the Emirates Palace, which prides itself on its gold theme, could be as high as $500,000 a year.