NBC New York /

News

Hot Dog Sauce King Dies Alan Geisler of Mahwah, NJ, was 78

Updated 2:15 PM EDT, Mon, Jan 12, 2009

Three generations of New Yorkers have been raised on Alan Geisler's delicious red onion hot sauce.
AFP/Getty Images

Three generations of New Yorkers have been raised on Alan Geisler's delicious red onion hot sauce.

 

Alan Geisler, the genius behind the tasty red onion sauce many New Yorkers love on their hot dogs, has died.

The red onion sauce Geisler created is a New York City culinary icon, commonly used by street-side hot dog vendors in New York City.

Geisler was 78 when he died Tuesday at his winter home in Florida after a battle with a protein disorder.

He created his famous sauce 44 years ago at the request of one of his customers — hot dog and bun manufacturer Gregory Papalexis, whose Englewood-based Marathon Enterprises now owns the Sabrett brand.

Papalexis approached Geisler about making the onion sauce to sell to New York City's pushcart hot dog vendors, who were spending a lot of time making their own versions of the hot dog topping.

Geisler's sauce, which includes onions, tomato paste and olive oil, is still marketed nationwide as "Sabrett's Prepared Onions."

Comments (2)

Sort by: Most Recent | Oldest
  • cmob Monday, Jan 12 at 2:33 PM FLAG COMMENT he was my hero :(
  • Anonymous Monday, Jan 12 at 2:13 PM FLAG COMMENT Thank you, Mr. Alan Geisler, you truly made this man happy. In your honor, I'd like to post this joke: What did the zen master say to the hot dog vendor? Make me one with everything.

Post a Comment

Name


Comment - You have 2000 characters left

Enter both words below, separated by a space, in the field located to the lower right. Can't read the words below? Try different words or an audio captcha. What's this?