this is an ancient sicilian dish which, in all cookbooks, is erroneously stated as obtaining its name from parmesan cheese, which is one of the ingredients. nothing could be further from the truth. the name "parmigiana" does not derive from that of the cheese but is the italianization of the sicilian dialectal word "parmiciana", which refers to the slats of wood which compose the central part of a shutter and overlap in the same manner as the slices of eggplant in the dish."