The Asian minority in Britain, estimated at approximately 1.5 million individuals, is the largest nonwhite group in the country, and represents two percent of the population. It is mainly composed of immigrants from the Indian subcontinent, who are scattered over Britain. Substantial concentrations occur in urban areas; for example, London's East End, Walthamstow (an area in northeast London), Southall-part of West London, referred to in Asian circles as Amritsar-as well as in Birmingham, Bradford, and Glasgow. Punjabis and Bangladeshis are conspicuous among these communities. This article focuses on a typical Punjabi family, the Patels, who emigrated from Lahore to London in 1965, and attempts to show how the celebration of Christmas involving, among other elements, the creative use of food, symbolizes and embodies their acceptance of the immigrant situation. As a result of World War II, Great Britain experienced severe manpower losses. At the same time, a substantial rise in the living standards and educational opportunities of the former indigenous working-class meant that certain jobs became socially undesirable. Requiring little in terms of skill, training, or linguistic proficiency, they attracted migrants from abroad, especially from the countries of the former British Empire. In the Indian subcontinent, overpopulation, poverty, unemployment, recurring communal troubles, and a series of natural disasters were all factors that encouraged emigration, although the workers were poorly paid. From 1955-60 it is estimated that 50,000 South Asians came to Britain. The first arrivals concentrated in areas where unskilled labor was in short supply and cheap housing was readily available. Immigrant enclaves formed in decaying inner-city areas, where the indigenous population was in process of moving out. Subsequent rapid increases in immigration were resented by a small but violent section of the indigenous population, and there were race riots in 1958. The Immigration Act of 1961 imposed various controls and limitations on Commonwealth immigrants. Trends in migration began to change. The majority of new arrivals from the Indian subcontinent were educated, professional people in contrast to the earlier migrants, who came from rural areas, often did not speak English, and were unfamiliar with either West European or urban ways of life. The majority of these earlier migrants were men who, unaccompanied by their wives, were allocated unattractive jobs with low wages. They lived in male groups, without the benefit of female companionship, and lack of education increased their feeling of isolation. Since they had no family life, this group of immigrants was prepared to work during unpopular hours and to accept shift work, especially at night, for this earned them more money, the main reason for immigrating in the first place. In 1965, 1968, and 1971 further controls were imposed as the families of settled migrants began to arrive, in addition to the professionals and their dependent relatives (Bhatti and Kanitkar 1978:4-14).