Halifax empanada shop brings family legacy to life

The smells of salsa, beef, and fried dough fill the air at the corner of Granville and Slater Streets in Halifax.

The source of those appetizing aromas is a little empanada shop that has only been open 10 months, but the history inside dates back 100 years.

Gabriel Behar and Veronica Catalan have turned a simple family recipe from Chile into a family business. 

“We don’t bring this recipe alive because it’s only between us,” said Behar. “It’s very simple but it’s a good one.” 

Customers who open the door to the cozy corner store are welcomed by rich aromas and the sounds of Latin music. Empanadas line the display counter and, in the back, the process of making them can be seen through a little window.

They offer six different kinds of empanadas, ranging from beef, chicken and veggie, and three different desserts. Customers can enjoy an empanada, salsa, and a drink for $10.

The couple has regulars who come from outside of Halifax and stop by the shop in between errands. Some will buy a dozen to stock up until they’re back.

People will visit the shop to practise Spanish, a Chilean ship captain working for the navy has visited, and even Canada’s Tourism Minister, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, came last summer. All sat down at one of five shop tables to stay and chat.

Behar and Catalan came to Canada more than 30 years ago. They first lived in Toronto before moving to Halifax during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The business started as a small, homemade operation of weekend baking and then turned into a stall at the Saturday Halifax Brewery Market.

Customers at the market asked whether the couple had a permanent storefront, telling them people would buy empanadas on more than just Saturdays.

It wasn’t until a customer told them they had food for the soul that they considered opening a shop.

“That’s what we intended when doing the empanada for people, so that they can have the same feeling,” said Behar. “When you finish eating you feel good.” 

When they opened The Empanada Shop in May 2024, they were worried they might see fewer customers at the market. But they say their market numbers haven’t changed, and that people enjoy coming to the shop to eat there all days of the week.

Legacy of flavour 

At the heart of the business lies Catalan’s grandmother’s secret empanada recipe.

Her grandmother opened a shop in Chile in the 1940s, making and selling the very same empanadas that Behar and Catalan make today.

“This recipe is a family recipe, a little secret,” said Catalan.

It has been passed down generations, from grandmother to mother, to Catalan and now her daughter.

The two say the recipe is perfect, and the ingredients and method of their empanadas have never changed.

Behar and Catalan said the most important thing about their empanadas is the community and love that making them brings. 

Eventually, their children will take over the shop. Even Catalan’s 86-year-old mother comes and helps make empanadas in the back with her grandson.

“An empanada can be many things. It can be a gathering of family, a reason to get together, it can be a gathering of friends. Why? Because it’s fulfilling,” said Bahar.