İmam Bayıldı

İmam bayıldı is whole eggplants split and braised in olive oil with onion, tomato and garlic, served cold. The name means "the imam fainted," and depending on which version of the story is told, he fainted either from delight at the flavour or from shock at how much expensive olive oil went into the pot — Ottoman kitchens took the dish that seriously.

What it actually is

Whole eggplants are slit lengthwise without being fully cut through, then stuffed into the slit with a mixture of softened onion, garlic and tomato cooked down until sweet. The stuffed eggplants go into a pan with a generous pour of olive oil and braise slowly, covered, until completely soft, absorbing much of the oil as they cook rather than releasing it.

Unlike most braised vegetable dishes, it's meant to be eaten cold or at room temperature rather than hot — the flavours settle and the oil re-distributes through the flesh as it cools, which is when the dish is actually at its best.

How it's served

• Cold or at room temperature, never hot from the pan.
• As part of a meze spread, alongside other cold vegetable dishes.
• Split open on the plate, the tomato-onion filling visible along the length of the eggplant.

Writing it on a menu

• Mention that it's naturally vegan, a strong option next to meat-heavy meze on the same menu.
• Note that it's served cold; a guest expecting a hot vegetable side should know this is a deliberately cooled dish.
• Say how much olive oil the dish is cooked in, since the amount is unusually generous by design and part of what the name is joking about.
• Flag it as a make-ahead dish; it's meant to be cooked in advance and rested, not served straight off the stove.