Kemenesalja, the wine country on the volcanic slopes of Ság-hegy in western Hungary, sits on a table of Vasi dödölle and the whites pressed off the hill. Chilidise, a small-batch hot sauce kitchen in Celldömölk run by Nagy Gergő, has taken silver in BBQ Chili Sauce with SzmoKing at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition.
Chilidise is run as a small-batch kitchen by Nagy Gergő, an agricultural engineer by training, working from his own recipes. SzmoKing is built on slow-cooking and the smoky, charcoal-grilled logic of real BBQ. A silver placement in BBQ Chili Sauce, judged blind against producers from across the continent, puts that approach inside Europe's top tier.
Nathan Austin on SzmoKing:
"SzmoKing leans into the slow-cooked, smoky depth that real charcoal grilling delivers, with enough sweetness underneath to read as a glaze. It wants to be brushed onto pork ribs or chicken in the last ten minutes on the grill rather than poured cold, balanced to caramelise rather than dunk." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
SzmoKing (silver, BBQ Chili Sauce): handcrafted in small batches and slow-cooked for a deep smoky character, drawn from the atmosphere of real charcoal grilling. Built to brush onto ribs, chicken or vegetables late in the cook so the sugars set under the heat.
"We've put Celldömölk on the European chili map. A small kitchen, our own recipes, going up against producers from across the continent and coming out with a Silver in BBQ. That's the result, and the team has earned it." – Nagy Gergő, Chilidise
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. BBQ Chili Sauce is one of the harder categories to medal in: the sauce has to carry on its own at the table and survive being brushed onto meat under direct heat.
"BBQ is brutal to enter blind because the panel can taste exactly what isn't there. Hungary doesn't show up at every European hot sauce competition, and a silver from Celldömölk says the Chilidise kitchen has its method dialled in. EHSA exists to surface exactly that kind of result." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
SzmoKing is available direct from Chilidise via chilidise@gmail.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=chilidise.
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 Reveal videos on YouTube, embeddable: - BBQ Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/L5IhjgVIE4M Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1KSfIGLKPXeE3AIAfOQYNjxQ6omUEDWKN?usp=drive_link
ABOUT CHILIDISE Chilidise is a small-batch hot sauce kitchen in Celldömölk, in the Kemenesalja region of western Hungary, run by founder Nagy Gergő, an agricultural engineer by training. The kitchen makes sauces by hand from its own recipes, with SzmoKing built on slow-cooked smoky depth drawn from real BBQ. Reachable at chilidise@gmail.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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