Unless you are a fan of Tartar it was not a very appetizing alternative. Then he added some, hesitantly, to his cooking meal and was quite pleased with the result. In fact when man first learned to cook over a fire, probably started by lightning, he most assuredly was eating some herbs prior to that first fire as all food was typically gathered and that meant plant material, seeds, berries, roots and leaves of plants were part of his diet.

As man evolved thru time so did his knowledge of local herbs and spices as far back as 400 years before Christ's birth. The As with any edible substance mythology and superstition became associated with certain herbs. There is no record when man first considered adding herbs to his diet. Any animal products were probably eaten raw. Most connections were pure "silliness" but. We can speculate that some semi intelligent being had tasted some of the plants growing outside his cave and then decided they were not poisonous, but tasted pretty good.

We know it probably happened before recorded history.