'If' acts as the subordinate conjunction, in that it reduces the importance of the first main clause "I will try this new food", and increase the importance of the subordinate clause, "if you will". The subordinate clause "if" also provides the smooth transition between ideas.
It's more important to what a person does because as they say, actions speak louder than words do. A person can think a certain way but not act on it but what a person does reflects what they decide internally and what they wanted to do with that idea externally showing that they are serious with that idea of theirs in their head.
