The Carton | Explore Food Culture in the Mediterranean

The Eastern Mediterranean through a food lens.

A magazine titled 'The Carton' resting on white crumpled paper on a beige surface. The magazine features illustrations of purple and white flowering plants on a light blue background.

The Extinction Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' with an illustration of a sesame flower on the cover, placed on crumpled white paper on a brown background.

The Tahini Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' with a subtitle about food culture in the Middle East, placed on a piece of crumpled white paper on a brown background. The cover features an illustration of a man holding a hammer with the text 'Decus in Labore'.

The Labour Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' with a collection of colorful stamps on the cover, placed on a piece of crumpled white tissue paper on a brown surface.

The Proustian Memory Issue

Magazine titled 'The Carton' with a cover design featuring abstract shapes in shades of red and pink, placed on crumpled white paper on a brown background.

The Shawarma Issue

A magazine titled "The Carton" resting on a piece of crumpled white paper, with a patterned surface underneath. The cover features a sketched bottle and a plate of food surrounded by a decorative ring.

The Informal Subcultures Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' resting on torn white paper against a tan background.

The Asrouniyeh Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' with Arabic text and illustrations of dancers, placed on a torn piece of paper on a beige background.

The Jazz Manouche Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' with illustrations of bottles, plants, nuts, and glasses on a blue background, placed on crumpled white paper on a flat surface.

The Mulled Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' resting on a crumpled piece of white paper on a beige surface, with shadows cast to the upper right.

The Sweet Yolk Issue

Magazine titled 'The Carton' with a photo of two children eating ice cream on a city street, on torn paper against a beige background.

The Booza Issue

Colorful illustrated magazine cover titled 'The Carton' featuring a cartoon clown with multicolored hair, large glasses, and a bearded face, surrounded by various abstract shapes and objects, on a yellow background.

The Sloppy Seconds Issue

A magazine titled 'The Cartoon' resting on crumpled white paper on a plain brown surface. The cover features an illustration of a street scene with two characters standing outside a shop, various flags and signs, and a side sketch of a girl with a basket of flowers on her head.

The Moveable Feast Issue

Magazine titled 'The Carton' on a crumpled piece of paper, placed on a brown surface. The cover features an image of a person with curly hair holding a spoon and partially obscured face with orange peppers.

The Tomato, Tomato Issue

Magazine titled 'The Cartoon' placed on crumpled white paper on a beige surface, featuring a black and white photo of people at a social gathering.

The Johnny Issue

A magazine titled 'The Carton' resting on crumpled white paper on a beige surface. The cover features a chalk drawing of a man in a red fez sitting at a table with an open refrigerator behind him.

The Inaugural Issue

Get a copy of the magazine

The Carton released its first edition in 2012. The project started as a periodical about food culture and the “Middle East”, published and printed in Beirut. Quarterly for its first 10 editions, it changed frequency to a biannual from there.

We decided to take an uninterrupted sabbatical from printing after our 16th edition (ironically titled “Extinction”) and focused on creating spaces that nurture the interactions, ideas and types of output we’re most excited about after working in publishing and with food for two decades. We’ve built spaces in Beirut, on the Greek island of Kythira, and in Athens, and are always on the lookout for where best to direct our next efforts.

We are currently exploring the richness of the cultures around the Mediterranean Sea (particularly the Eastern part): what these communities have in common, what sets them apart, and why it’s important to focus on microcosms to understand social, ecological and cultural impact on a larger scale.

Food continues to be our vehicle to comprehend the things that happen around us and is our chosen tool to contribute to the microcosms we exist in. We examine it, promote efforts around it, and share it.

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Visit our shop in Beirut

In 2016, we opened our first brick-and-mortar: our very own shop in Beirut, our home city which gave birth to The Carton. The Carton Shop stocks back issues of the magazine and invites collaborations with some of our favourite people and entities in Lebanon and beyond, from winemakers and producers to artists and florists.

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Discover a Greek island like no other. Our guesthouse in Kythira is for anyone searching for a slower pace, good food, breathtaking shores and wild nature.

Stay along the Mediterranean