Volendam is a Markermeer fishing village with smoked eel coming out of the harbour smokehouses and fresh herring sold off the dyke. De Vergulde Tong, a hand-made sambal kitchen run in Volendam by Albert, has taken Gold and Best in Category in Sambal, Chutney & Pickles at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition, with Milde sambal van koksmaat Kees.
De Vergulde Tong, Dutch for The Guilded Tongue, is a one-person sambal kitchen run by Albert in Volendam. Production is deliberately small, sixty jars made by hand over four hours each batch, with no shortcuts on ingredient quality. Albert outsourced production once, didn't like the taste or structure of the result, and brought the work back to his own kitchen where it has stayed since.
Nathan Austin on the Milde sambal:
"Sambals usually lead with heat. Albert's leads with the pepper itself, the heat dialled back to where the sauce sits comfortably on rice, satay or eggs without taking over." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Milde sambal van koksmaat Kees (Gold, Best in Category, Sambal, Chutney & Pickles): a mild sambal built on fresh Spanish peppers sourced through Bram Kloosterman at Westlandpeppers in the Westland greenhouse region. The recipe was given to Albert by an old colleague, Kees, who is now 84 and learned to make sambal in the 1960s from Indonesian colleagues on board ship as a young cook's mate. Albert and Kees worked together in an Amsterdam restaurant in the 1990s, and Albert asked Kees for the recipe for many years before Kees handed it over in 2016. The jar label honours Kees with a small picture and the line "koksmaat Kees." De Vergulde Tong also took Bronze in Asian Style Chili Sauce with the Spider Monkey Umami Hot Sauce.
"I am really proud and honored that, in a blind tasting competition expert European judges and makers within the European hot sauce community, have rated my mild sambal as overall winner in the category sambal, chutney and pickles. Thank you so much!" – Albert, De Vergulde Tong
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 ran over 200 sauces from across the continent through blind tasting this year, scored on five criteria by a deliberately mixed panel of chefs, sommeliers, critics and chilli specialists. Milde sambal van koksmaat Kees landed at the top of a continent-wide Sambal field.
"Sambal is a category where the technique has to be honest. Indonesian sambal carries a long lineage, and any European entry has to earn its place inside that lineage rather than reach around it. De Vergulde Tong's Milde sambal landed at the top of a continent-wide blind judging on those terms, with a recipe that runs back through Kees to Indonesian colleagues in the 1960s. That's not Europe reinventing the form, that's Europe doing it right." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
De Vergulde Tong's Milde sambal is hand-made in small batches in Volendam. Production is limited, so the range is available through a small number of selected shops, and Albert is open to adding a few new retail partners. Inquiries from shops, or direct orders, to albert@deverguldetong.nl. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=de-vergulde-tong.
The European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 are announced ahead of the Berlin Chili Fest, 29–31 May 2026. Republic of Heat's EHSA 2026 Top 3 winner box is live at republicofheat.com/de-en/discovery-set/euhsa_top3, with further EHSA selection boxes at republicofheat.com/de-en/hot-sauce-sets.
PRESS RESOURCES Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1npOYpfOMgaStIjUZcRiw8h3FtVl4587n?usp=drive_link
ABOUT DE VERGULDE TONG De Vergulde Tong, Dutch for The Guilded Tongue, is a hand-made hot sauce label run by Albert in Volendam, North Holland. The flagship product is Milde sambal van koksmaat Kees, a mild sambal made in batches of around sixty jars, by hand, in roughly four hours per batch. Recipe given to Albert by his old colleague Kees, who learned to make it from Indonesian colleagues at sea in the 1960s. Fresh Spanish peppers sourced through Bram Kloosterman at Westlandpeppers in the Westland greenhouse region. Range available through a small number of selected shops. Direct inquiries: albert@deverguldetong.nl
ABOUT THE EUROPEAN HOT SAUCE AWARDS The European Hot Sauce Awards (EHSA) is the professional competition for commercially produced hot sauces in Europe, run annually since 2024 from heatawards.eu. EHSA was born out of the Berlin Chili Festival, which has run since 2019 and returns 29–31 May 2026, and became an independent competition in 2024. Over 200 sauces from producers across the continent were entered in 2026. Entries are judged blind across five criteria: aroma, heat profile, flavour, creativity and finish. The 2026 edition covers 16 categories, with Gold, Silver and Bronze medals awarded across multiple positions in each. Each category also names a Best in Category, the top Gold. EHSA is run independently of any single producer or retailer.
ABOUT REPUBLIC OF HEAT Republic of Heat is a European hot sauce subscription designed to show off the flavours coming out of Europe and help solve the distribution problem independent makers face. Founded June 2025 in Berlin by Nathan "Naga" Austin and Simon "Scoville" Gardner. The Discovery subscription delivers three handpicked craft sauces plus a spicy extra to subscribers across the EU each month. Press partner of the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026. republicofheat.com.
PRESS CONTACT Press: Republic of Heat, on behalf of European Hot Sauce Awards contact@republicofheat.com +49 176 41601284
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