IT’S coming up to Christmas, so what better way to celebrate than by eating a reindeer?

The supermarket chain Lidl is selling luxury leg steaks, if anything from a budget supermarket can actually be called luxurious.

We bought a packet to test the public’s reactions. Some were horrified, but others couldn't see the fuss.

I am one of the latter and fancied giving them a try. I always think if an animal looks cute, that just means it has nice tender flesh.

Besides, I ate roadkill fox for the paper last year, so reindeer is a big step up.

The steaks were very dark and my friend Jacqueline decided not to fry them, as suggested, but to stew them in a casserole.

She marinated them, then slow cooked them for 40 minutes on gas mark 220 Celcius with olive oil, red wine, shallots, garlic, salt and pepper.

They came out looking like a cross between beef and lamb but the taste was more like liver.

They were not bad – a touch chewy, but without the strong aftertaste you get with liver.

However the rich, dark sauce was delicious, and went perfectly with the potato gratin served up by my housemate Nicholas.

The other diners praised the very meaty flavour, comparing it to beef.

We finished it all off then debated whether we should have flash fried them or maybe slow-cooked them for 8-10 hours.

Personally, I wouldn’t rush to buy reindeer again based on that meal.

But if you want to add depth to something like a ghoulash or a hot pot, then it would work a treat.

What do you think? Should some animals be off limits for eating? And if so, how do we decide which? Let us know in the comments