near the bottom of the abyss, you might feel empty and insatiable, devoid of everything. you might also feel excruciating pain. it is, no other word for it, torment. body cries out. begs the world for something. for people like me the 'somethings' are narrow and, even though your body begs for anything, nothing seems to be suitable. you're satiated to the point of resenting the foods you eat every day.
of course there are also "cravings" and other more specific hungers. sometimes very hard to pinpoint, but easier to help mitigate. tonight i have an unidentified hunger that will surely grow painful tomorrow morning (as my hunger usually does) and it's made me feel pretty bad, but ice cream is good at giving you a jolt in small doses, it turns out. and sunflower seeds are hardy and nutty and can keep me going as a snack. (i've eaten an incredible amount of them within just a few days so they're nearly out, which is unfortunate.) some cravings are better than others at helping to fill needs and lead to satisfaction - think fast food cravings.
food and flavor are so incredibly complex, and i don't think it's a system science will ever understand. garlic is just so distinctly garlic, and nutty is so distinctly nutty, and there are so many flavors I don't think anyone could possibly know them all. (I wonder somewhat whether many of the flavors are merely the body saying "hey nutrients tend to coexist with this" or the flavors themselves are nutritious.) it's wonderful and i hope that by understanding flavor we can come to understand our hunger eventually. maybe i'll be able to get ever closer to that elusive balance between variety and familiarity/comfort that I need in my diet.