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).
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).