Los Angeles Times Cookbook Hot List

1. “Soup: A Way of Life,” by Barbara Kafka (Artisan, $35). All soups, all the time.

Last Week: 1

Weeks onList: 15

2. “The Pie and Pastry Bible,” by Rose Levy Beranbaum (Scribner, $35). Another masterwork from America’s most obsessive cookbook writer.

Last Week: 5

Weeks onList: 15

3. “How To Cook Everything,” by Mark Bittman (MacMillan, $25). A fresh approach to the cooking encyclopedia, with more than 1,500 recipes.

Last Week: 3

Weeks onList: 21

4. “Seductions of Rice,” by Jeffrey Alford and Naomi Daguid (Artisan, $35). The world in a grain of rice.

Last Week: 4

Weeks onList: 10

5. “Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone,” by Deborah Madison (Broadway Books, $40). Vegetarian cookbook with 1,400 recipes and sections on ingredients and cooking methods.

Last Week: 2

Weeks onList: 54

6. “Jean-Georges,” by Jean-Georges Vongerichten and Mark Bittman (Broadway Books, $35). Creative restaurant cooking adapted for the home kitchen.

Last Week: 6

Weeks onList: 21

7. “Kitchen Sessions With Charlie Trotter,” by Charlie Trotter (Ten Speed Press, $29.95). Companion volume to Trotter’s TV show focuses on preparing fine cuisine at home.

Last Week: --

Weeks onList: 2

8. “Food and Memories of Abruzzo,” by Anna Teresa Callen (Macmillan, $35). Simple dishes and complicated regional specialties from this area of Northern Italy.

Last Week: --

Weeks onList: 1

9. “Naples at Table,” by Arthur Schwartz (HarperCollins, $27.50). The south rises again.

Last Week: 10

Weeks onList: 3

10. “Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites,” by Pam Krauss (Clarkson Potter, paperback, $22). Low-fat recipes with a vegetarian emphasis.

Last Week: --

Weeks onList: 4

Rankings are based on a Times poll of national cookbook and independent booksellers.