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1
Build the fire two hours before cooking, using maquis wood — arbutus, cistus, or chestnut. Allow it to develop to a strong initial heat with a deep ember bed, then begin reducing fuel so the heat declines gradually across the roasting period. The fire is ready when a sustained, even radiant heat can be felt at spit height.
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2
Rub the kid inside the cavity and across the entire exterior with coarse sea salt, crushed garlic, nepita, and rosemary. Coat the exterior with Corsican olive oil. Mount the animal whole on the spit.
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3
Begin rotation over the initial high heat. Maintain slow, continuous rotation throughout. Place a tray beneath the spit to collect rendered drippings. This step decides the dish: the fire must begin hot and decline steadily over two hours — consistent high heat chars the exterior before the interior reaches temperature, and no aromatic exchange between maquis wood smoke and the surface fat can occur at a racing heat.
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4
From the second hour, baste the exterior every fifteen minutes with the rendered drippings collected in the tray beneath. Repeat through to the end of rotation. Each basting cycle builds the lacquered, golden-amber crust. The exterior is done when it is deep golden-amber and even in colour across the whole animal.
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5
After two and a half to three hours of total rotation, pierce the thigh joint deeply. The juices must run clear with no trace of pink. Internal temperature at the thigh must reach 72 °C. Remove from the spit.
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6
Rest the whole animal for fifteen minutes before carving. Carve at the table, not in the kitchen. The flesh is sweet and clean; the surface fat melts completely; maquis aromatic is present in the crust; no gamey note should be detectable.