In the food world, hunger is eternal, the appeal of food timeless, but tastes, customs and expectations always change.

	Steve Mellon, Post-Gazette Veggies to look for and utilize in '07 include turban squash, top left; orange Hubbard, right, and delicata, bottom. Click photo for larger image.

Just think of small plates. So big in the last few years, they now are reverting back to the appetizers they once were.

And squeeze-sauce bottles -- so cutting edge back in the '90s -- are relics more at home in the Smithsonian than your kitchen. Food-obsessed Americans thirst for the new, the hot, the sexy.

What will be the next big thing in food for 2007? Here are a few.

What's with that weird fruit?

With its angry orange rind and spiky surface, the horned melon may be the Ugly Betty of the fruit world. But growing numbers of Americans are learning that beauty (or, more accurately, the lack thereof) is often only skin deep.

Tropical fruits with names often as weird as they look -- acai, cupuacu, rambutan, feijoa, Chinese wolfberries and the aforementioned horned melon (a.k.a. kiwano) -- have been used in high-end restaurants for some time. New is the growing acceptance of these fruits and their juices by home cooks seeking healthful new flavors.

Take rambutan. The visibility of this small white Asian fruit encased in a hairy-looking rind has jumped dramatically. The Perishables Group, a Chicago-based independent consulting firm specializing in produce, said rambutan's dollar sales jumped to $67,388 in 2006 from $16,214 in 2004.

Tea's cup runneth over

Tea will stay hot, in more ways than one. This steadily growing category keeps blossoming with new varieties of black, white, green, red and herbal, fueled partly by research findings that continue to link tea to good health.

Companies will be selling ever-more elaborate flavor combinations in supermarkets (Celestial Seasonings' Tropical Acai Berry and Goji Berry Pomegranate green teas are just two examples) as well as specialty shops.

Flowering teas -- their leaves sewn together so they "blossom" when steeped -- are hitting the mainstream too. Numi Organic Tea is just one company selling these floral beauties. Add to this the myriad iced teas and foods boasting tea as an ingredient (from ice cream to energy drinks) and it's no wonder that we'll continue to be steeped in tea.

Name that squash

Varieties such as turban, curry pumpkins, sibley, kabocha, delicata, buttercup and warted hubbard are making headway in squashing the notion that the heirloom vegetable revival is all about tomatoes. You'll see more unusual types coming to your supermarket this year.

Amy Goldman describes these heirloom squash varieties as "treasures from the past, handed down," in "The Compleat Squash, A Passionate Grower's Guide to Pumpkins, Squashes and Gourds."

"They're beautiful, delicious ... eating them offers health benefits," said Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder and associate director of Seed Savers Exchange in Iowa. "People are paying attention to squash varieties and excited about widening their knowledge."

Noshing 'round the world

Exotic-flavored snacks line up to be 2007's most-invited guests. It has gone way beyond lime and chili Fritos.

Boulder's Thai chips, Kettle's roasted red pepper with goat cheese chips, Baji's Indian papadums, Funyun's wasabi "onion-flavored rings," even Terra's aioli "frites" -- the world has gotten small enough to fit into your mouth.

Even the chips themselves have changed: Cassava, plantain, yucca, sweet potato and boniata chips have hopped to the snack aisle from the ethnic shelves.

Sushi is so last year

Look for more sushi restaurants to expand menus to include (can we take it?) cooked Japanese food. Slow-cooked chicken dishes or soy-simmered eggplant or squash will compete with raw fish on menus. Noodles will shine.

And home cooks finally will get a chance to move from takeout sushi to home-cooked dishes, with the help of such cookbooks as Elizabeth Andoh's "Washoku: Recipes from the Japanese Home Kitchen" and others.

Washoku means "harmony of food," by the way, and we're ready for a little more harmony on the Japanese menu.

'Superfoods' to the rescue

It seems that every new product is claiming flavonoid or carotenoid superiority or superfood status. Though most of us still don't know what antioxidants do (they fight harmful free radicals in your body that might otherwise damage cells), sales of products with antioxidants are up nearly 22 percent over a year ago, according to ACNielsen's LabelTrends -- "more than any other major health claim."

So expect "antioxidant rich" and other wording to increasingly surface on labels from dark chocolate to green tea to "new" fruit juices, such as those made with goji berries and acai. We may even begin to see such terms as "ORAC ratings" (oxygen radical absorbance capacity, or the total antioxidant power of a food).

Spain, uncorked

All things Spanish continue to be hot: the food, the films, the fashion. Expect to see Spanish wines explode like a supernova. From sparkling cavas to crisp albarinos to smooth Riojas, Spain is the place to go for a flavorful pour. And, believe it, lots of people are holding out their glasses.

Sales of Spanish wines nationally increased nearly 28 percent over the past year, according to ACNielsen, the consumer research firm. "The biggest growth is in the supervalue end," reports Doug Jeffirs, wine manager for Binny's Beverage Depot stores. "It's completely red-driven too. ... The reds are getting all the attention."

Look for a 'locavore' near you

Members of a group in California call themselves "locavores" because they eat only foods grown within 100 miles of their San Francisco epicenter. Across the country, people are pledging to follow the "100-mile diet," promising to eat only foods grown nearby.

The locavores' guidelines: If not local, then organic; if not organic, then family farmed; if not family farmed, then local business; if not local business, then terroir. The idea is that the average 1,500 miles a food travels to get to your plate is a waste of energy and resources and doesn't protect farmland where you live.

Think your own 100-mile diet would be dull as dirt? Bet you're wrong. Visit locavores.com and 100milediet.org to find out.

The spirit moves them

The trend of handcrafted products -- for many years a force in chocolate, cheese and beer -- has moved into the spirits world and 2007 will bring more. Independent distillers are popping up across the United States, making their own vodkas, gins, liqueurs, brandies, etc., searching for distinct flavors they are not finding amid mass-produced beverages.

Bill Owens of the American Distilling Institute sees seven to 10 distilleries starting up each year, mostly making white spirits (such as vodka and gin) because the costs and aging time are less.