Madrid's food culture is dominated by cocido, callos and bocadillos de calamares, not on the chili culture you'd find further south or across the border in Portugal. TheSauceMan, a small-batch hot sauce company run in Madrid by British maker Mark Nicholls, has placed twice at the European Hot Sauce Awards 2026 (heatawards.eu), Europe's flagship hot sauce competition: silver in Medium Chili Sauce with Hot Pickle, and bronze in Sambal, Chutney and Pickles with Tomate con Chilli Quemado.
TheSauceMan is Mark Nicholls' project, built around recipe design and ingredient-led condiments, with everything produced by hand in small batches using almost exclusively local Madrid produce. No preservatives, no additives, as he says himself, 100% flavour, 0% nonsense. The two winning products sit in different corners of the range, one a chili-pickle that scales to a Medium pourable sauce, the other a chutney-style sambal built around locally grown tomatoes and burnt chilli.
Nathan Austin on TheSauceMan:
"What stands out here is a British maker working with the Spanish pantry, not the chili-belt one. The two medal sauces lean on dill pickles and a tomatoe-based chutney, pulling inspiration from Mediterranean cuisine rather than from any genre hot-sauce template." – Nathan Austin, Tasting Editor, Republic of Heat
Hot Pickle (silver, Medium Chili Sauce): a chili-and-pickle build, with the pickle base carrying the sauce into the Medium register.
Tomate con Chilli Quemado (bronze, Sambal, Chutney and Pickles): a burnt-chili and tomato build sitting in the chutney and sambal register. The burnt-chili technique is the signature note in the name.
"Wow I'm absolutely blown away. We don't have a huge chili culture here in Spain but hopefully with this award we can start putting that right. Thanks to the judges, Juliana and all the crew who have supported me." – Mark Nicholls, TheSauceMan
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. Medium Chili Sauce and Sambal, Chutney and Pickles ask different things of a producer, and TheSauceMan landed top placements in both.
"That's a British maker working in Madrid against a continent of producers and walking away with two medals in two very different categories. EHSA exists to surface exactly that kind of result." – Neil Numb, Founder, European Hot Sauce Awards
Hot Pickle and Tomate con Chilli Quemado are available through TheSauceMan at thesauceman.es. Full EHSA 2026 results across all 16 categories: heatawards.eu/results/2026?utm_source=press_release&utm_medium=press&utm_campaign=ehsa2026&utm_content=the-sauce-man.
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: - Medium Chili Sauce: https://youtu.be/t6_GvbkBCM8 Press kit (photos, logos, AI lifestyle composites credited Republic of Heat / European Hot Sauce Awards 2026): https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SdBTy765ML7XuiQPG0FAjmUjugQLojGH?usp=drive_link
ABOUT THESAUCEMAN TheSauceMan is a small-batch hot sauce kitchen run in Madrid by Mark Nicholls, a British maker working with Spanish produce. The kitchen focuses on recipe design and ingredient-led builds, with everything produced by hand in small batches using almost exclusively local Madrid produce. No preservatives, no additives. The range, including Hot Pickle and Tomate con Chilli Quemado, is available at thesauceman.es.
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