We used to cook Cochon De Lait in a pit in the ground. We wait for the first good frost, kill a hog - and get the coals right in the pit we dug in the ground.
Prep the pig ( we would poke little holes every few inches - and stitch a clove of garlic in there, and douse him with a cheap white wine. Usually chablis box wine
then, - wrap him in new chicken or hog are ( washed with vinegar to get the " junk" off of it ) and put him on a spit, down in the hole in the ground. Put a piece of tin roofing over the hole and place some branches over that for weight...
ahhh-YEEEE!!!