Why is it assumed that learning to cooking animals is a necessary hurdle?

When we’re capable of eating animals raw. And bugs and worms etc.

Whereas in order to consume a wider variety of plants, cooking and other more complex perpetrations are absolutely necessary.

Have to consider meat digestion from a net calorie perspective. Eating raw meat is possible sure. But once you get to dense protein meats like a red meat, your body expends a lot of calories in the act of digesting it raw. Cooking it is like a pre-digestion step and allows your body to digest it with less energy expenditure.

It also probably was helpful for other reasons. You could store cooked meat easier/longer without refrigeration or kill off some of the bacteria and such making it healthier.

Much like today, early humans were indeed capable of eating meat raw.

Also much like today, early humans did not do so if there was a way to cook it.

If you're quite finished parroting RFK Jr pro-parasitic brain worm talking points not even aboriginal Australians ate their fish and meat raw.

* https://warndu.com/blogs/blog/traditional-aboriginal-food