Heat caramelizes the tomato paste into a deep brown color. C ut the ham steak into bite sized cubes and add to vegetables with the shredded ham hock meat. P lace the thyme, cloves and cayenne pepper into a coffee bean grinder or a small food mill. Grind the spices to create a wonderfully fragrant powder. Put half the mixture in the ham hock stock and half in the vegetables.
R emove the shrimp shells from the stock.
Never stir the rice while cooking - it can break its texture into a mush. C ombine the cooked rice with the vegetables and ham. Add the tomatoes and the shrimp. S tir in the parsley and a scattering of the chopped thyme. Removing so much of the fat makes the sticking problem even worse.