Butter was discovered by accident when humans were still nomadic tribes. Milk was transported in animal skin bags and the agitation from travel turned it into butter. Probably being chased by something or running very fast.

For every person that managed to make maple syrup there must be several that made a stew from danger-mushrooms.

I think there's a lot of "dare you to eat that" in food history.

blue cheese was discovered from a guy eating lunch in a cave, and leaving it unfinished to go talk to a pretty girl. when he came back months later the cheese had molded into blue cheese and he ate it and it was good

Who though to stab a tree and collect the juice? I want that mf knighted

Yogurt is also very interesting, as its bacteria originates from ants. Who would think "hmm ants have infested my milk container but hey let me taste what they did to milk anyways"

The first one would have been obvious by the time Europeans reached the Americas because reducing things to increase the intensity of flavours by removing water would have been a known cooking technique for a long time by then (and I'm guessing would have been figured out soon after the invention of pots). Then, it would have been a matter of someone who was aware of that technique tasting raw sap, realizing it was sweet, then trying to extract the sugar through reduction, then discovering it's still pretty good as a syrup rather than dry sugar.

And extracting sap from trees goes way back, as that's what frankincense and myr were (and disappointing to find out these "precious substances" just smell like church).

Just wanna mention, you don’t need to boil maple sap for anywhere near that long to make syrup. It can be done in an afternoon unless you’re trying to make gallons.

Thus this custom of firing houses continued, till in process of time, says my manuscript, a sage arose, like our Locke, who made a discovery, that the flesh of swine, or indeed of any other animal, might be cooked... without the necessity of consuming a whole house to dress it.

From the 1888 A Dissertation Upon Roast Pig

Unfortunately the rest of it is pretty trash.