Berlin's food culture has long absorbed the cooking traditions of everyone who lands here, the Vietnamese phở counters of Prenzlauer Berg and the Lebanese mezze tables of Neukölln. Moja, an independent hot sauce maker in Berlin run by Maliha Fairooz, has placed at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition: bronze in Chili Oil with Chunky Chili Oil.
Moja's range fuses cooking traditions from Bengal, Sierra Leone and Berlin, drawing on founder Maliha Fairooz's Bengali heritage and the travels behind the brand. Production is hand-jarred, small-batch, run out of a single Berlin kitchen in Schöneberg-Tempelhof. The bronze lands Moja in EHSA's most-entered single category of 2026.
Nathan Austin on Chunky Chili Oil:
"Most chili oils in this year's competition follow the Sichuan template. Moja is the rarer bottle that doesn't, a Berlin kitchen pulling ingredient cues from the Indian subcontinent and West Africa into a format that's usually defined by southwest China." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Chunky Chili Oil took bronze in Chili Oil: a textured small-batch oil jarred by hand in Berlin, designed to spoon over noodles, eggs, dumplings, rice bowls, or anywhere a chunky condiment lifts the plate.
"I am still pinching myself because I didn't anticipate a win in the first year we participate. But honestly, this belongs to you, the people who believed in Moja from the beginning. Your support took us from 30 jars a month to 300, and we're just getting started. More flavors, more fire, more fusion coming your way." – Maliha Fairooz, Moja
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. Chili Oil drew the largest field of any single category in this year's edition.
"That's an independent Berlin kitchen taking on continent-scale producers and walking off with a bronze on a first attempt. EHSA exists to surface exactly that kind of result, and we're watching closely for what Moja brings next year." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Chunky Chili Oil is available through Moja at mojaberlin.com. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=moja.
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/1fd7x01W-1bP3DXU9kMCZwdkOcRNsfju-?usp=drive_link
ABOUT MOJA Moja is an independent hot sauce kitchen in Berlin's Schöneberg-Tempelhof, founded and run by Maliha Fairooz. The range fuses cooking traditions from Bengal, Sierra Leone and Berlin, jarred by hand in small batches. The kitchen has scaled from 30 jars a month to 300 in its first year. Chunky Chili Oil is available at mojaberlin.com.
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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