Imam bayildi literally means ‘the imam fainted’ there are few folklore stories that go around with this. The story I grew up with was when this imam first tried this dish he fainted as it was so good! It is also known as karniyarik, I guess in Turkish tradition imam bayaldi is meatless, but Albanians add meat, I have Turkish friends who add meat as well, and still call it imam bayaldi.
It really is delicious, it’s been a favourite of mine since I was a kid, I was never a big fan of eggplant but prepared like this I was. Now a day’s I like eggplant in many ways….it’s become one of my favourite vegetables! …