Weak Knees is the real name of a hot sauce line made by Brooklyn’s Bushwick Kitchen. And they are so good, they may very well knock you off your feet.
The company sources local ingredients from the Hudson Valley, the Catskill Mountains, and the Flushing neighborhood of Queens to make its products, which I had a chance to sample recently.
Weak Knees Gochujang Sriracha (10.5-ounce squeeze bottle for $10.99) has the sweet, fermented character of Chinese hoisin sauce combined with garlicky depth and a deep peppery kick from Korean gochujang. It’s spicy, but manageably so. Use it on scrambled eggs, Asian noodles, dumplings, or even in a grilled cheese.
Weak Knees Curry Sriracha (also $10.99) is similar, but with the deep warmth of cinnamon, nutmeg, turmeric and cardamom. It’s Indian curry meets Chinese hot sauce. It’s addictive. Use it to create your own currywurst. Or squirt it on roasted cauliflower or sweet potatoes or roast chicken.
Bushwick Kitchen also makes maple syrup sauces. The Trees Knees Butter Maple ($13.99 for a 12.5-ounce bottle) is just the ticket for pouring over pancakes, waffles, and French toast or even holiday ham. It’s made with organic maple syrup with a rich maple taste. While it does taste buttery, it’s actually vegan, as it’s made with butter flavor.
The Spicy Maple gets its kick from habanero. Sweet and definitely hot, it would be awesome on fried chicken and biscuits, pork chops or glazed carrots.
The same goes for the Bees Knees Spicy Honey (13.5-ounce squeeze bottle for $13.99). Yes, Bushwick Kitchen makes honey products, too. With the addition of habanero, this wildflower honey will take your pizza, salad dressings, and corn bread to another level with its floral sweetness plus noticeable lick of heat.
The products are available at Sur La Table, Bloomingdale’s, and Macy’s. They’re also sold on the Bushwick Kitchen web site, where Nov. 26 to Nov. 28, and Nov. 30 to Dec. 1, you can take 20 percent off the entire site. That deal ends at midnight EST.