İmam bayıldı[1][2] (literally: "the imam fainted")[3] is a dish in Ottoman cuisine of whole eggplant stuffed with onion, garlic and tomatoes, and simmered in olive oil.

[4][5] The name supposedly derives from a tale of a Turkish imam who, for one reason or another, lost consciousness over the dish.

In one version it is said that he swooned with pleasure at the flavour when his wife presented him with this dish, although other more humorous accounts suggest that he fainted upon hearing the cost of the ingredients or the amount of oil used to prepare it.

Another folk tale relates that the imam married the daughter of an olive oil merchant.

During Ottoman times, the dish also spread to Anatolia's Pontian minority; in their language, it's called imam-bayildin.