Hungary's southern lowlands sit inside the Szeged and Kalocsa paprika belt, the two protected regions that taught the country to handle peppers through brining and drying long before fresh chili culture arrived. Evoatis Örömkert ("Garden of Joy"), an independent kitchen in Nagymágocs run by Attila Szabó, has taken Gold in Sambal, Chutney & Pickles at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition, with Jalapeno Pickles, a Mexican chili brought into Hungary's savanyúság pickling lineage.
Evoatis Örömkert produces from Nagymágocs in Csongrád-Csanád county, inside the wider Southern Great Plain region, with Attila Szabó running the kitchen as a single-maker operation under the Örömkert brand-mark. The EHSA 2026 entry, Jalapeno Pickles, sits inside a national preserving tradition that runs through csalamádé and kovászos uborka, and pulls a Mexican chili into that register.
Nathan Austin on the placement:
"Jalapeño abroad usually arrives sliced raw in vinegar, the escabeche style off the back of Mexican cooking. A Hungarian-built jalapeño pickle is a different read on the same chili, and the placement says the panel found the technique worth a Gold." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Jalapeno Pickles took Gold in Sambal, Chutney & Pickles: the category covers sambals, chutneys and pickles from across continents, and the entry sits at the European-pickle end of that range, a Mexican chili treated through Hungarian preserving rather than imported as a Mexican-style condiment.
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. Sixteen categories ran in 2026, with Gold awarded across multiple positions in each.
"Sambal, Chutney & Pickles is the category where national pickling and fermenting traditions show up against each other, and a Hungarian entry doing well in it is exactly the kind of placement we built EHSA to surface." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=evoatis.
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/1D5MHTk89vktf4K6jAjhtOpqEhCXTexQ0?usp=drive_link
ABOUT EVOATIS ÖRÖMKERT Evoatis Örömkert is a single-maker Hungarian kitchen in Nagymágocs, Csongrád-Csanád county, in the Southern Great Plain region of Hungary, run by Attila Szabó. The brand-mark Örömkert translates as "Garden of Joy". The kitchen produces under the Evoatis Örömkert label, with Jalapeno Pickles as its EHSA 2026 Gold entry in Sambal, Chutney & Pickles.
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
— End –
Press contact
Contact the Council