Svitlana Yakovenko, the author of Taste of Ukraine, is a professional translator and an expert home cook.

She spent many years seeking out and adapting the recipes of her homeland for Taste of Ukraine and a series of eBooks entitled Tradition on a Plate, which include Ukrainian Christmas Eve Supper: Traditional village recipes for Sviata Vecheria, Traditional Velykden: Ukrainian Easter Recipes and Ancient Grain: Ukrainian Recipes. 

Yakovenko was born in the Central part of Ukraine and moved to Sydney, Australia, in the 1990s, where she studied Literature and then Law.