Setting Comparison Operator Depending On Parameter Value?

Hello,

Is it possible to set a comparison operator using a parameter value?

The code below shows what I'm after;

declare @co char(1)
declare  @date datetime

set @co = '<'
set @date = '02/02/2002'

select * from recipe where date @co @date

I would use an if statement perform two seperate statements depending on the value of co, but this is only one of 13 statements where i need to have different combinations of comparision operators.

thanks