 The earliest written reference to the Slavic hogweed soup can be found in <unk> ( Domestic Order ) , a 16th @-@ century Russian compendium of moral rules and homemaking advice . It recommends growing the plant " by the fence , around the whole garden , where the nettle grows " , to cook a soup of it in springtime and reminds the reader to , " for the Lord 's sake , share it with those in need " . Simon <unk> ( Szymon <unk> ) , a 17th @-@ century Polish botanist , described " our Polish hogweed " as a vegetable that was well known throughout Poland , Rus ' , Lithuania and Samogitia ( that is , most of the northern part of Eastern Europe ) , typically used for cooking a " tasty and graceful soup " with capon stock , eggs , sour cream and millet . More interested in the plant 's medicinal properties than its culinary use , he also recommended pickled hogweed juice as a cure for fever or hangover . 
