Berlin's food culture compounds rather than replaces: the Turkish döner shaped in Kreuzberg in the 1970s, the Vietnamese phở counters of Prenzlauer Berg, and a Sichuan register that runs from Charlottenburg noodle bars through to the home kitchens cooking with imported Szechuan peppercorn. Eckart Saucen, a craft fine-food sauce maker run from Berlin-Friedrichshain since 2009 by Thomas Eckart and Sabine Welz, has taken a Silver Medal in Salt & Condiments at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu) with Szechuan Chili Crisp, placing fifth in a nine-sauce European field.
Eckart trades as SAUCEN-DESIGNER.BERLIN and writes its range as sauce compositions rather than condiments. Sixteen years in, the catalogue runs to ten handmade sauces from mild to fiery, all without artificial additives, and the bottles sit on shelves across a network of independent German food retailers including ausberlin, Genussland and Viktualien. Szechuan Chili Crisp is the range's most recent addition and the first to take a podium at heatawards.eu.
Nathan Austin on the Szechuan Chili Crisp:
"Chili crisp lives or dies on the crunch holding up under the oil, and Eckart's holds. The Sichuan peppercorn dose is real, not a label flourish, and you feel the numbing register sit underneath the heat rather than being chased by it." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Szechuan Chili Crisp took a Silver Medal in Salt & Condiments: a vegan oil-based chili crisp built on rapeseed oil, fermented soybeans, onion, chili, soy sauce, raw cane sugar, Szechuan pepper (declared at 4%), rice vinegar and salt. Designed for rice, noodles and bowls rather than as a pourable sauce. Bottled by hand in Berlin-Friedrichshain.
"Since 2009 we have been making fine-food sauces in Berlin by hand, ten compositions from mild to fiery, no artificial additives, with care and patience. A Silver in Salt & Condiments at a European competition, judged blind, is a confirmation we will take. The work continues in the manufactory." – Thomas Eckart and Sabine Welz, Eckart Saucen
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. Salt & Condiments drew nine entries from across the EU in this edition, the only category covering chili crisps, salts, dry rubs and sauce-adjacent condiments under one roof.
"Salt & Condiments is the trickiest category to judge blind, because the format is so wide. Eckart's chili crisp landed on a panel that had a salt next to it on the table and a dry rub the row before, and it still placed. That tells you the build is clean. We are watching closely for what Eckart brings next." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Szechuan Chili Crisp and the full Eckart range are available at saucen-designer.berlin and from German food retailers including ausberlin, Genussland, Viktualien and Fleischrebellen. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=eckart-saucen.
PRESS RESOURCES Press kit (photos and AI-generated lifestyle composites, credit: Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/[press-kit-folder-id]?usp=drive_link
ABOUT ECKART SAUCEN Eckart Saucen, trading as SAUCEN-DESIGNER.BERLIN, is a craft Berlin fine-food sauce maker run by Thomas Eckart and Sabine Welz since 2009. The manufactory in Berlin-Friedrichshain produces ten handmade sauces from mild to fiery, all without artificial additives. The range, including Szechuan Chili Crisp, Berliner Curry Sauce, plum, peach-mustard, mango and the Eckart grill sauces, is available at saucen-designer.berlin and through a network of independent German food retailers.
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 4–6 September 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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