As cultural fusions go, battered cactus will take some beating. This unique Mexico meets Britain experiment is Matt Young’s latest trick as head chef at a new branch of Bang Bang Burrito at Kemp Town’s The Sidewinder pub.

He says the cactus has health-giving properties, but it’s difficult to imagine that many will remain after a solid British deep-fry.

Still, the concoction fits his description of Mexican cuisine as “perfect finger food”.

Taste-wise, the closest parallel is probably Thai-style battered aubergines.

“It’s the sort of thing to nibble on while you have a drink,” says Young, as he shakes a basket of the salty plants at the new venture’s launch.

“As bar snacks go,” he adds, with a grin the size and shape of the Gulf Of Mexico, “it’s far healthier and tastier than pork scratchings and crisps. Plus, it’s fun.”

The same can’t be said about the chicharrónes which arrived a few minutes earlier. The fried pork belly rinds – with cuts cooked for 16 to 18 hours in their own fat and made from meat pulled from the bone by hand – are salty, fatty and delicious.

“They are another dish for sharing, perfect for pubs.”

Bosses at the Mexican restaurant’s permanent home in Jubilee Street have brought in Young for his experience.

The man, who declares his three favourite things as music, sunshine and food, lived in Austin, Texas, for four years before moving to Hove.

Having been only a stone’s throw from the Mexican border, he claims to have picked up all the tricks to make authentic Latin American fare.

“I learnt that in Mexican food has a lot more to do with spice than it does heat.”

He’s got the big spices for those who like it hot, mind.

The naga chilli spice is on offer and he says there is a “crazy chilli button on the till”.

Street food is en vogue at the moment and Bang Bang Burrito has a Mexican street food menu.

Whether the food on the other side of the Atlantic is presented as it is at The Sidewinder – tidy sharing plates of beef, chicken and pork with sides of soft tortilla, salsas and salads, or neatly chopped burrito triangles, which make the style more gourmet – is anyone’s guess.

Young comes across as a perfectionist. Perhaps that’s to do with his previous life as a banker. He worked in the City for Citibank for a few years before turning his dream of cooking for a living into a reality.

“I had the fear that if I started cooking professionally it would take the enjoyment out of it,” he explains, when I ask what had stopped him leaving the banking industry earlier.

Mexican magic

Once he had left the sector, he worked in Bib Gourmand restaurants in Oxfordshire and later as a cook at barbecue shacks over in Texas.

The eight grand championships he won with a former colleague at US competitions proves he is a dab hand at dealing with meat.

He says the secret to Mexican food is “freshness, freshness, freshness, cooking everything to order and never using a microwave”.

As for its surging popularity in the UK, not to mention in Brighton (Mucho Burrito has opened in North Street, La Choza in Gloucester Road, Carlito Burrito in London Road and Tortilla in West Street), Young thinks it is down to the small plates and fast service.

“The days of three to five course meals, or even just one big pub lunch, are becoming a thing of the past.

“Having sharing platters and food you can easily pick up and eat with your hands, whether on the street or relaxing with a drink, has become the vogue.”

Fans of The Sidewinder roast fear not – Young will continue the Sunday tradition.

  • Bang Bang Burrito @ The Sidewinder, Upper St James’s Street, Brighton, 01273 679927