For the Hassan family, Hyderabad is not just where their roots lie; it is also the city that informs the way they lead their lives. Known and loved for their legendary hospitality for over four decades, Doreen and Peter Hassan have preserved a way of life, a culture and a cuisine with great affection and pride. Like generations before them, the Hassans continue to honour Hyderabadi traditions in their cosmopolitan home in Delhi, passing their love for food, family and friendships to their children and grandchildren. Central to much of this is the fact that Doreen Hassan has, over the decades, archived priceless family recipes from both her husband’s storied Hyderabadi family and her own traditional Goan one. The result is an astonishingly rich record of culinary history, which speaks of a city that absorbed influences from across the world and made them its own. It is this treasure of recipes that forms the heart of this book. This is not a collection of Hyderabadi recipes that stops at the biryani, kababs or saalans; this is a collection that captures the vibrant soul of erstwhile Hyderabad and Doreen’s own journey from not knowing how to cook to being ‘the host with the most’. Saffron and Pearls is a personal story – a tribute to the city that the Hassans call home.