The Firepit: A Roasting Goat...

... turns on a cast iron spit, to be cranked by hand, in the city of Khar Th'Sekt, an ancient center of Irekei culture.

The banked coals beneath the meat provide the searing heat necessary not only to prevent spoilage but also to drive away the bloodthirsty black flies of the vir'akar, as well as the occasional vulture bold enough to swoop inside the walls seeking scraps.

Meat prepared this way will be quickly 'done', and eaten immediately, while less choice cuts will be dried into jerki on racks, and consumed as much as a year later. Irekei cuisine tends to both 'travel' and 'keep' well.

This ring of rocks, calcined with heat on the outside and charcoaled black on the inside, is the only containment thought necessary for this cooking fire. For those who have not settled in towns, no more than a hole scooped out of the sand may be needed. Fires such as these may be built quite close to tents, on the downwind side, and provide a source of warmth for family and social gatherings outside after dark... Desert nights can be bitterly cold at some latitudes, and altitudes.

By the way, no Irekei mother ever stops her infant from crawling or toddling up to the fire: "He will learn", it is said.