The Cuban content creator Ariadna Guerra, who resides in Spain, recorded the moment when her father, mother, and brother — who live in Cuba — tasted Spanish ham for the first time in their lives, in a 55-second video that garnered more than 214,000 views on TikTok.
The clip, published on August 23, shows the three family members bringing the ham to their mouths simultaneously at Ariadna's signal. The reactions were immediate and enthusiastic: "it smells good, it smells good," they said as they sniffed it, and after tasting it, they didn't hesitate: "how delicious it is, it's tasty."
Ariadna had previously explained to them that the ideal way to enjoy it is on toast with avocado, but for the video, she decided they should try it alone, without any accompaniments. "Put the whole thing in your mouth, kid, so you can really savor it," she instructed them during the recording, before concluding: "If you like it, then this is the famous ham from Spain."
The video immediately resonated with the Cuban community abroad, who see their own history reflected in those reactions. It fits into a sustained viral phenomenon among the diaspora: Cubans who have emigrated—particularly in Spain and the United States—share on social media the moment when their relatives on the island taste foods that are commonplace abroad but are inaccessible there.
And ham is precisely one of those products. In Spain, it is consumed daily in bars, supermarkets, and homes; in Cuba, it has practically disappeared from state markets.
In that context, the fact that a family on the island tries Spanish ham for the first time thanks to an emigrated relative encapsulates, in less than a minute, the gap between the food realities of both countries.
It's not the first time that Ariadna Guerra has starred in a viral moment related to her experiences between Cuba and Spain. In January of this year, a video of hers about the first time she saw snow in Barcelona also circulated widely on social media among the Cuban diaspora community.
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